Persona 4 Veritas
by MissBadgerPants
Summary: When a young woman from Tokyo is sent to live with her uncle and cousin for a year in the sleepy town of Inaba, almost immediately she finds herself thrust into a series of unusual circumstances that leave her and her new friends as the only people who can successfully discover who the local serial killer is! Persona 4 Golden, but with a female protagonist and some SL changes.
1. Prologue: The Ace of Hearts

**Prologue: The Ace of Hearts**

 _March 21 – Afternoon, Clear_

"Yo, so that bullshit Komaeda was spoutin' was true, Boss?!" A rough-looking young man with bleached hair, no older than perhaps 17, was shouting, his hands clenched in front of him in disbelief. He was only one of many others who shared his rough-and-tumble look, most of the men in leather and girls in revealing clothes and fishnets, all of whom quickly chimed in, their voices a cacophony of demands and questions. The target of their loud group inquiry was a young woman, who unusually stood at least a few inches taller than nearly every member of the mass of people, her vibrant purple hair tied up high in a ponytail. The woman looked over at her shouting compatriots, a firm glance of lilac eyes being all she needed to cause them to suddenly go silent and meek, as if a lion had turned its gaze on a pack of zebras.

"It ain't bullshit, because yeah, it's true," she said in response. The girl took a seat on the steps of an abandoned building in the small, unused parking lot she and her fellows had made their main hangout. The group remained silent, their attention rapt on the woman they had named their leader, hanging on every breath as they awaited an explanation. "I'm getting sent to some backwoods town in the middle of nowhere for a year because my family doesn't trust me to 'behave' while they're gone."

The response garnered the reaction the gang leader had been expecting; anger, bewilderment, and desperation. Some of the members began to curse out her parents, some wondered out loud why they didn't simply find someone to keep an eye on her, and others even began to swarm their boss, crying and begging for her not to leave. After all, it had only been a month since another of their members was suddenly forced to uproot and leave, and now their linchpin, the one who practically formed their group, was likewise leaving. Reassuring them that she'd only be gone for a year, the young woman managed to finally get herself some space before calming the group. There was still little less than three weeks before she had to leave, after all, so they still had time together before she'd be off to her destination.

 _March 21 – Evening, Clear_

"Welcome back, young mistress." The voices of a few maids at work rung out through the foyer of the mansion the purple-haired girl returned to, her suburitō resting on her shoulder and school bag in her hand. A gentle grunt of acknowledgement was her only response to the workers who were bowing before her as she made her way upstairs and to her room, where she undressed from the school uniform she never bothered to wear properly.

To a stranger entering the room for the first time, it'd be almost as if they entered an entirely different world, as the young woman's room was decorated so strikingly different from the rest of the mansion; dull and subdued colors permeated every inch of it, from the walls to the decorum. Numerous pieces of personal exercise equipment were strewn about, and the shelves that contained books and magazines of all kinds were simplistic and almost boring.

Even the bed that the girl collapsed onto once she was undressed was simple and dull, with plain brown sheets and a pair of ordinary pillows. Though she was the heiress to a prestigious and highly-successful business conglomerate, she held no desire to be any such scion. Money didn't bring happiness or satisfaction, nor did fame and prestige, particularly since she didn't earn any of it. In fact, one could say that it brought the complete opposite; after all, tonight, like most nights, her parents were nowhere to be found. "Working hard" as usual, she assumed.

A soft sight escaped the girl's lips as she swaddled herself in blankets, deciding to sleep early tonight. As she began to drift off to sleep, thoughts swirled in her head, wondering exactly what sort of place she'd be moving to in a few weeks... Boring, she imagined; even in a big city like Tokyo, she typically just spent her time hanging around with her gang, or getting into fights. What sort of excitement could she possibly find in a small town in the middle of nowhere that she'd never heard of, before?

 _April 11, Morning, Clear_

A simple train ride was all that was necessary to get to her destination; after all, this town was only in the next prefecture over, so a plane ride wasn't necessary. Deep down, the young woman somewhat hoped she'd get to take a plane; after all, she hadn't been on one since the last family vacation to Okinawa when she was eight years old...

Recalling such an old memory brought forth an irritated snort from the girl as she waited for her train; such a time was long passed, as it had been years since her family had gotten together for any sort of occasion, let alone a recreational one. Usually the only time she saw either of her parents was when they were stopping at home for one reason or another, and rarely they did so together. In fact, she couldn't recall the last time she'd seen both of them together. Hell, she didn't even receive the news about this trip in person; instead, her mother decided to let her know via text messaging.

The girl's growing irritation was, thankfully, cut short, when she noticed her train arrive. Making sure to board in time distracted her long enough for the thought process to end, and for her mind to set itself on a number of other topics that seemed to flow through her brain at a swift pace, her attention rarely sticking to one for longer than a minute. It was this unfocused train of thought that began to slow her cognizance, causing drowsiness, and eventually sleep...

 _April 11, ?_

As her awareness began to slowly return, the first thing that began to catch her attention was the change in ambience. The telltale clacking and occasional bump of a train was gone, and she could tell she was no longer moving at the speed she was back on the railway. Instead, her surroundings seemed to be moving at a slow, gentle pace, and the hum of what she recognized as an expensive car's engine had replaced the train. Despite that, no sense of alarm went off in her head, allowing her to calmly open her eyes and take in her new surroundings.

The first thing her gaze noticed was that nearly everything in sight was blue. From the walls, to the ceiling and floor; even the wisp-like mist outside the windows of the car she found herself in was of a blue color, albeit noticeably brighter than the deep, navy blue that decorated every inch of the vehicle's interior. Admittedly, it was incredibly gaudy to her, as it almost seemed to be an assault on her senses.

The second thing she noticed was that she wasn't alone in the car; a pair of bizarre individuals shared the space with her, one more so than the other. Directly opposite from her, separated by a small table, was a small, strange man dressed in a sharp, black tuxedo with large, bulging eyes and a nose that had to be the length of her forearm. To his left sat a much more normal-looking, if eerily-beautiful, woman with silvery-blonde hair and bright, golden eyes, dressed in an attendant's outfit in the same shade of blue as their surroundings.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," said the man, as soon as he noticed the young woman was awake. "Ah... It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny." As he chuckled, the young woman aimed to interject, but oddly found herself unable to speak... Or rather, _unwilling_ to speak. It was almost as if her surroundings were so relaxing that she simply didn't have the energy to do more than listen.

"My name is Igor... I am delighted to make your acquaintance," the man said, continuing to speak, seemingly unaffected by whatever forced the girl to remain silent. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future." Dream and reality? Mind and matter? What sort of nonsense was he talking about? The girl understood almost nothing of it, but she wasn't sure she was meant to. Was this some sort of hyper-aware dream she was having? Was this her subconscious's way of fucking with her? She didn't get much time to think on it, however, as the man's next words seemed to command every inch of her attention.

"Now, then... Why don't you introduce yourself?" Just then, the fatigue that kept the young woman from speaking was suddenly lifted, but at the same time, she felt obligated to reply properly. Instead of the rebuttal and questioning she would've normally intervened with, she gave her name, as requested...

"My name's Yui Minamoto."


	2. Chapter 1: A TV Screen to the Soul

**Chapter 1: A Television Screen to the Soul**

 _April 11, Afternoon, Cloudy_

To say that dream was strange was putting it mildly. When Yui found herself back on the train, seemingly not having actually left, she was very off-put. Despite the relaxing countryside scenery outside of her train car window, she felt an incredible sense of unease. What was that place? That... "Velvet Room"? It had to have been an incredibly vivid dream; after all, she had "fallen asleep" back in that place and woken up here on the train. And, considering nobody else in the train car had been panicking about her suddenly appearing out of nowhere, she warranted a guess that she never actually left. Placing her hand over her face, the young woman tried to piece together everything that had just happened.

After Yui gave her name, the man who called himself "Igor" suddenly materialized a strange deck of tarot cards onto the table between them, asking if she believed in fortune telling. She'd never really given it any thought; she had no reason to believe in it, yet also no reason to not. Still, Yui found herself once again unable to speak, and so the long-nosed man continued, telling her he was going to look into her future. A wave of his hand, and the cards spread out around the table, leaving a few before the rest disappeared.

Yui didn't know a thing about tarot cards, but thankfully Igor was able to explain as he flipped over the first card, revealing it to be "The Tower". In the upright position and representing the near future, it apparently foretold that a terrible catastrophe was awaiting her at her destination. Lovely, exactly what she wanted. As if transferring to a new school and town wasn't going to be stressful enough.

The second card he revealed was The Moon, in the upright position. As Igor explained, it represented hesitation and mystery, and that between those two cards, she would supposedly have to deal with a mystery as a result of some sort of tragic occurrence. What sort of tragedy would involve her in a mystery was beyond Yui's expectations, but perhaps it'd actually give her something to do in the small town. Of course, Igor wasn't finished as he turned over one final card...

"Hmm... The Hanged Man, in the reversed position," he said. "After your ordeals, it seems you will be forced to make sacrifices for the sake of progress, though stubborn selfishness will make it difficult... It may not be what you want, but if you wish to better yourself, it will be what you need." Sacrifices? Not what she wants, but what she needs? Did she really need to better herself? Yui's expression hardened slightly as she recalled those words... Maybe she really did want to improve herself. After all, she had no future planned out, no goal in life. As she was, she'd be forced to take up her family's business after all, and she didn't want that. She didn't want to turn out like _them_.

Putting that thought aside, she recalled the rest of her visit to that strange place, when Igor finally introduced the woman to his side. Her name was Margaret, and, as she herself stated, would also accompany Yui throughout her "journey". It was then that Igor bid the young woman farewell, and she felt drowsiness take over once more before awakening in the train car.

What exactly did all of that mean? It was too complicated and realistic to simply be a dream, but at the same time, that's all it could have been. It's not like her consciousness could've been spirited away to some strange, extradimensional space, right? And yet, despite logic demanding otherwise, a voice in the back of her head kept nagging at her, saying that it must have been real, and that she should take the warnings seriously. She'd never considered herself superstitious, but if things like this continually happened, she might just start believing.

However, snapping her out of her daze was the conductor announcing that they'd soon be arriving at Yasoinaba Station and that all passengers intending to disembark should gather their luggage. As that was indeed Yui's stop, the young woman stood and began to gather her things, preparing to get off. As she did, she finally took the time to look at the scenery outside of her window, somewhat amazed at the lack of buildings. It was hills and greenery as far as she could see, and to imagine a small town nestled in the middle of all of this seemed unusual for a girl who was Tokyo born-and-bred.

Stepping off the train onto the Yasoinaba Station platform didn't change Yui's opinion at all; looking out at her surroundings outside of the station revealed to her that there really was nothing here at all. A cursory look around also caused her attention to be drawn to a man and young girl, just as he was calling out to her.

"Hey! Over here!" He said, raising the free hand that wasn't carrying his coat. His appearance was grizzled and casual despite wearing a dress shirt and tie along with slacks, as his collar and tie were loose and his hair clearly only given a quick combing without too much attention to detail. "Boy, you've sure changed a lot over the years; your mom said you'd been dyeing your hair, but she didn't say it was _purple_. Plus, you're almost as tall as me!" The man gave an amused chuckle, and Yui quickly figured out who he was by his familiar attitude and mention of her mother.

"I take it that means you're my uncle," she said in response. She must've spoken rather coldly, because the girl who was at the man's side tried to slyly shuffle behind him.

"Yeah, though I'm not surprised you don't recognize me. It's been years since I've seen you, after all. I'm Ryotaro Dojima, and I'll be your guardian for the next year," he said. "Just so you know, I work with the Inaba Police Department, so I don't want you causing any trouble, all right?" Of course she was living with a cop for the next year. It all made sense, now. Her parents didn't have any trouble finding someone to watch her; they had thousands of people they could pay for that, after all. No, they wanted Dojima to straighten her out.

"Right," Yui said somewhat dryly. "Not like there'd be much trouble to cause in a little place like this." She doubted they even had real gangs here, the kind that would stab someone over an insult or two. That was the kind she was familiar with. If anything, she imagined the only problems they'd have here would be two-bit shoplifters or kids playing hooky.

"Well, you'd be surprised just how many troublemakers we have here," Dojima replied. "Ah, by the way, this is my daughter, Nanako. Go on, Nanako, say hello to your cousin." He gave a look to his daughter, who had been half-hiding behind her father until now, and Yui's attention being drawn to her must have startled her somewhat, because she gave a soft yelp of surprise and muttered out a greeting before hiding behind Dojima even more.

"Ahh, is she scaring you? Don't worry, she won't hurt you," he said. Nanako's reaction plus Dojima's statement caused Yui to sheepishly rub the back of her neck; she honestly didn't mean to intimidate the poor girl, but her cold aloofness was more of a reflexive response to dealing with policemen, off-duty or otherwise.

"Well, anyways, let's get going," Dojima said, turning back to Yui. "My car's over there." Motioning towards the small, nearby parking lot, he began to walk to his car, with Nanako following briskly behind. Yui began to likewise make her way to follow, but her attention was caught by a feminine voice calling out from behind her.

"Hey," the voice said, prompting Yui to turn around. "You dropped this." The voice belonged to another young woman with short, brown hair, gray eyes, and wearing a rather... eclectic outfit, involving a choker with a lock on it, a white dress shirt and black tie, black-and-red-striped, long, fingerless sleeves, a studded belt and plaid skirt, black-and-white striped stockings and checkered boots. In her hand was a piece of paper that had presumably fallen from Yui's pocket.

"Oh, thanks," Yui said in response, stepping forward to take the paper, which was the note she wrote for herself concerning Dojima's address. Good thing she didn't lose this, otherwise she'd likely be getting lost until she learned where the house was.

"Whatever," the girl said in reply. "All I did was pick it up." The girl said nothing else before turning to leave. Dojima called out to Yui, as well, waiting on her to join them at the detective's car. Placing the note back in her pocket, the young woman made her way over to the Dojimas, making their way into the small town, and Yui's new home for a year.

As the three drove through town, Yui began to notice that, even when more buildings began to come into view, there was never a point where she couldn't see the hills that surrounded Inaba. Even once they made their way to the central shopping district in order to stop for gas and give Nanako a bathroom break, she could still see them clearly when she stepped out of the car. And yet, she couldn't say it was a bad thing; the air was fresher, the noise was all but absent, and the greenery was more pleasant to look at than the neon lights and gray of the city. Her attention was pulled away from the scenery once Dojima finished speaking with the gas station attendant, who decided to strike up a conversation when he got to work filling up the car.

"Does it surprise a city girl to see how little there is out here?" He said. "There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs." Yui's expression didn't change from her usual aloof stoicism as she listened to him, giving a shrug as she responded.

"Eh, didn't do much more in the city, to be honest," she said. "Pretty much just hung out with my friends back home, too." Her reply brought a chuckle from the attendant as he finished filling up the car and put the pump back in place.

"Is that so? Sounds like you'll fit right in, then," he said. "Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now. Give it some thought, will ya? They don't care if you're a student or not." The attendant gave a welcoming smile, before offering his hand over to Yui to shake. The young woman hesitated for a moment before deciding to give a lazy shake, before the attendant gave a wave, heading back into the station.

Coming out at roughly the same time was Nanako, who sheepishly looked p at Yui at she returned to the car. However, when Yui turned to look back at her, she suddenly felt her vision distort and a wave of nausea overcome her, forcing her to place her hand over her forehead and eyes as she swayed slightly. Thankfully, the feeling passed in only a few moments, though when she removed her hand, she found Nanako had inches closer, a look of concern on her face.

"Are you okay...?" She said. "Did you get carsick?" Yui figured she must've looked like she was about to pass out if even Nanako, who had so far been incredibly nervous around her, was voicing her concern. Though a little dizziness persisted, she seemed to be fine, now, briefly considering that she might be exhausted from the long train ride. Nanako's concern must've been enough to get her father's attention, as well, because he stepped over, the smell of cigarette smoke still lingering on his person.

"What's wrong? You feeling okay?" He said, concern likewise in his tone. "If you're tired, I can understand that; it must've been a long ride. Why not take a walk? The fresh air might do you some good. Just let me know when you're ready to go." Yui was about to protest, but decided otherwise. This would be a good opportunity to explore the shopping district, since it was likely she'd be spending a fair amount of time, here.

Exploring around, Yui took in the various shops that lined the street, noting each down in her memory. There was a small bookstore, a blacksmith, a tofu shop, a convenience store, and a variety of other shops further down the street. Taking a few minutes to take in the rustic atmosphere and scenery before making her way back to her uncle and cousin and driving off to their home, which was a somewhat small, yet cozy two-story home. And, for the next year, it was where she was going to be staying...

 _April 11, Evening, Rain_

Sitting around a coffee table with canned drinks and store-bought lunches for dinner was a far cry from Yui's usual dinnertime meal. She was used to either eating in an alleyway with her gang or at a large, fancy table; in either case, her food was usually gourmet-cooked, though she did occasionally trade with one of her friends. After a brief toast to Yui's stay with the Dojimas, the detective began to chat with his niece.

"So, your mom and dad are busy as always, huh? Working overseas, again?" He said. "I know you're stuck here for a year, but I imagine they left you with babysitters a lot. Though, I imagine you're just about old enough to live on your own, aren't you?" Yui gave a quiet sigh as the topic of her parents was brought up; she'd been able to keep that out of her mind ever since she got off the train... Though, her uncle did have a point. She'd been held back in school the previous year, so she was already 18 as of earlier last month.

"Yeah, well, could be worse," Yui said. "It's a different locale than I'm used to, is all." Admittedly, she was already enjoying this place better than home. She had her doubts about this Inaba place, but so far, she was liking the quaint, homey feel to not only the town, but the Dojima residence. This was the first time she'd eaten with family in years, after all. Dojima smiled and nodded to Yui's reply, apparently glad she was willing to give living in the small town a try.

"Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice to have someone else around for a change," he said. "So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourself at home." Yui couldn't help but pause and just look at Dojima for a few moments; the genuine hospitality was something she'd rarely felt, before, so it took her a few moments before she was able to give a silent nod in response, which prompted a small chuckle from him.

"You're deciding to go meek on me all of a sudden?" He said, a look of amusement on his face. "I'm beginning to question the legitimacy of your records; those Tokyo police must have pretty low standards." The teasing got the rise out of Yui her uncle was likely expecting, chuckling again as she gave a small snort and turned her attention to her food, a light blush on her cheeks; even Nanako seemed to find the scene funny, because she let out a small giggle as well, though the mirth was quickly interrupted by Dojima's cell phone going off.

"Ugh, who's calling at this hour...?" He said, before standing up and away from the table to answer. "...Dojima speaking. Mhm. Yeah? I see. So where is it? All right, I'm on my way. Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze..." Ending the call, Dojima turned to Yui and Nanako, who were looking at him, waiting to hear the explanation.

"Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business," he said. "Go ahead and eat without me. I don't know how late I'll be. Nanako, you help her out, okay?" The young girl gave a reluctant, verbal acknowledgement before Dojima made his way back to the door, and voicing his concern about the laundry, only for his daughter to confirm that she already brought it in. After he left, an awkward silence was left behind in the household, quickly broken by Nanako deciding to turn on the TV, the weather forecast coming to life on the television screen, revealing it was likely going to rain for the next few days.

"Let's eat," Nanako said quietly, picking up her chopsticks to start on her meal. As Yui did the same, she realized she felt somewhat guilty for scaring the girl earlier; perhaps the best way to rectify that would be to make conversation. However, the issue of finding a topic to speak about quickly reared its ugly head, leaving her silent for a few seconds before finally managing to come up with something.

"So, your dad..." Yui said. "He's a cop, right?" The older girl's question caught Nanako's attention easily enough, causing her to nod and give a quiet hum of acknowledgement, as she still had food in her mouth. Once she swallowed, she responded properly.

"Well, he... investigates things, like crime scenes," she said. "He's a detective." So, he wasn't a regular police officer, then. No wonder he got called away so suddenly, there must have been an emergency of some sort... Yui didn't expect a small, sleepy town like this to need someone like that, but she supposed that just meant she had too close-minded a view of this place. Perhaps it might be more exciting than she thought.

Just as she thought that, her attention was drawn to the TV again as the news came up, the reporters talking about a recent scandal involving a local anchorwoman and the city council secretary, Taro Namatame, who were allegedly having an affair. Well, that wasn't quite the excitement Yui was hoping for; gossip wasn't her thing, even if a number of her friends were constantly talking about celebrities or fads. Clearly Nanako thought the same, as she quickly changed the channel, just in time for a familiar commercial of the nationwide superstore, Junes, to come up, complete with their famous jingle, a jingle that Nanako gleefully sung along to before they continued their meal.

After eating, Yui helped clean up before heading up to the room that was now hers to use, according to Nanako. Boxes of her things sat against the wall and upon the couch; it was a subtle reminder that, for an entire year, she'd be living here. This was the, by comparison, small room that she'd be staying in, containing an unfamiliar desk with a coffee table, the aforementioned couch, a television, a small shelf, and a futon. Though she was somewhat tired from her trip, Yui began to sort through her boxes, removing what she felt was necessary before going to sleep, including her new school uniform... Yasogami High. Starting tomorrow, that was the high school she'd be attending. And, for the first time in years, she figured she may as well start attending regularly. After all, her uncle was a police detective, and he'd probably be on her about not skipping class.

 _April 11?, ?_

Despite definitely going to bed, Yui once again found her consciousness returning and eyes opening in an unusual place, but this time, there was no inexplicable sense of relaxation. In fact what she saw before her as she got to her feet, was fog. Fog blanketing her surroundings and obscuring her view beyond maybe a meter or two. Rather than relaxation, unease settled into her heart. Looking behind her, she noticed that the strange walkway she seemed to be on ended abruptly, forcing her to either remain here or proceed onwards, and rather than hang around for whatever might live here, she decided to move forward.

Stepping carefully due to her limited vision, Yui began to walk, and the blocks that were the pathway she stepped on were occasionally awkwardly placed or tilted, forcing her to keep an eye on where she stepped, particularly with the fog. Once she made a fair bit of progress, however, a voice suddenly rang out, causing the young woman to turn in multiple directions, seeking the source of the voice.

"Do you seek the truth...?" The voice said. "If it's truth you desire, come and find me." Yui felt her body tense up as she sought the owner of the voice, suddenly coming face-to-face with a strangely-patterned wall of sorts that wasn't there before. In fact, it almost seemed as if the voice called out from beyond it. As she reached out to touch it, the wall revealed itself to be a kind of door, as it suddenly opened up, rotating from the inside out to allow Yui through. Stepping past cautiously, she heard the voice once more, from directly in front of her.

"So... You are the one pursuing me..." It said with a chuckle. "Try all you like." Focusing her attention on the direction of the voice, Yui could barely make out a figure in the distance, hazy though it was. Curious for answers, Yui hastily stepped forward, only for the figure to disappear as the fog seemed to thicken.

"Hmm, it seems that you can see a little, despite the fog," It said. "I see... Indeed, that is very interesting information. But, you will not catch me so easily... If what you seek is 'truth', then your search will be even harder. Everyone sees what they want to, and the fog only deepens..." Though Yui continued to frantically look for the mysterious person, she could feel her consciousness slipping once again. Try as she might, she couldn't stop herself from falling to one knee, then eventually completely to the ground as her body lost its strength.

"Will we meet again? At a place other than here... I look forward to it."

 _April 12, Early Morning, Rain_

Yui found her consciousness stirred once again with the telltale sound of someone knocking on a door. A familiar voice called out that breakfast was ready, and as Yui gradually woke up, she realized it was Nanako's. As she replied back and prepared to get ready for school, she couldn't help but feel as though she had another odd dream, or perhaps a nightmare of sorts...

After a shower and donning her uniform, albeit with her favorite jacket over the blouse, Yui walked down the stairs to be greeted only by Nanako as she prepared breakfast; it was a relatively simple, if cliché, meal of eggs, breakfast sausages, and toast, but from all appearances she had cooked it by herself. A quick glance around confirmed Yui's thoughts that her uncle was nowhere to be found this morning before sitting down.

"...Do you do the cooking?" She asked her young cousin. The girl's expression turned to one of uncertainty, as if she was debating how to answer.

"I can toast bread," Nanako replied. "And cook sunny-side up eggs in the morning... Dad can't cook, so I buy dinner." That explained the store-bought food from last night; it wasn't that they were particularly poorly-off, they just couldn't prepare a proper meal. As they began their meal, another awkward silence filled the room, at least until Nanako decided to ask something of her cousin.

"...You're starting school today, right?" She said. "My school's on the way, so... Um... Let's go together." Yui certainly didn't expect the young girl to offer such a thing; perhaps she was already warming up to the older girl? She certainly hoped so; intimidating people who would likely bother her was one thing, but a kid wasn't someone she intended to scare, let alone one she'd be living with for the next year.

"Sure," Yui said with a nod. She would have attempted a comforting smile, but she was never good at faking expressions; her acting career was over before it even began, though the performing arts were never something that interested her, anyways. Nothing lost in that regard, really.

After breakfast, the two left the house, making sure to lock the front and sliding doors beforehand. With Nanako taking the lead, the two eventually ended up at what seemed to be some floodplains; though the two had to part ways there, the brunette told Yui that her path from there was simply to follow the road straight; she was clearly on the right path, at least, as she soon found herself walking the same path as a number of other students in front of and behind her... and one unlucky student who seemed to have trouble steering his bike while holding an umbrella, causing him to crash into a nearby telephone pole. Still, she figured if she was going to start "behaving", she'd need to make it on time, and so she didn't have time to help the poor sap, instead deciding to leave him be.

Once she arrived, Yui made her way to the faculty office, where she learned of her homeroom and teacher, one Kinshiro Morooka. Just by simply walking to the classroom with him, she could tell he was going to get on her nerves for the rest of the year, between his posture, his expression, and the tone of his voice. Once they arrived, she entered behind him and immediately she could tell her judgment was spot-on.

"Awright, shut yer traps! I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!" he said. " First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons! Long as I'm around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!" Not even one minute in and his voice was already grating on Yui's ears; were this some random guy back in Tokyo, she'd have decked him five words in just to shut him up, but for now, she endured it as she wrote her name on the blackboard... At least, until he began to introduce her.

"Now, I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student," he said. "This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage, and she's just as much of a loser here as she was there, so you boys better not get your hopes up! Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick." That was crossing the line for Yui; though she managed to restrain her fists, a nasty scowl crossed her face as she turned to Morooka.

"...The fuck did you just say about me, beaver-face?" She said, pure venom dripping from her words. It wasn't a casual dismissal like Morooka's tone, but one that indicated that if she weren't holding herself back, her fist would be connecting with his buck teeth right now. The response certainly came as a surprise to everyone in the room, as both the students and Morooka himself looked at her with shock before the teacher's expression contorted into anger.

"What did you just say to me?!" He said, a scowl of equal measure across his face. "That's it, you're on my shit list, effective immediately!" A vein bulged on Morooka's temple, accentuating the redness that was beginning to cover his entire head as the volume of his voice began to rise, the man ranting at her about morality and modern-day vices, to the point that he even turned away from her, making it clear to her that he was no longer shouting at her, but rather just angrily going on in general. Thankfully, a girl's voice from the middle of the classroom spoke up, interrupting the angry ranting.

"Excuse me, sir, but is it okay if the transfer student sits here?" She said. The brown-haired girl motioned to an open seat next to her, and it seemed that this worked as a sufficient distraction for Morooka, as he quickly shooed Yui off to her new seat. The young woman scoffed, but sat down anyways, thankful he'd stopped going on and on.

"He's the worst, huh?" Said the brunette, whispering over to Yui from the seat next to her. "Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class... Well, we just have to hang in there for a year." Almost as soon as Morooka's lecture died down, Yui could hear the other students whispering, as well, masking what the brunette had said to her. From what she could pick out, about half of it was shocked murmuring about how ballsy Yui was to talk like that to a teacher, let alone Morooka, and the other was lamenting how all of them were stuck with Morooka as a homeroom teacher, as well. Predictably, though, it wasn't long before Morooka called for the class to quiet down, the irritation clear in his voice. Yui couldn't help but sigh quietly; she was going to be stuck in this class for a whole year...? If she could make it through this, she probably would change... Heck, she'd probably reach enlightenment.

 _April 12, After School, Cloudy_

Yui breathed a sigh of relief when Morooka gave the word that the first day of class of the year was over. While she still had the rest of the year to go through, she took how well it had gone – first impressions on Morooka notwithstanding – as a sign that she could make it through the year. As a couple of her new classmates approached her, likely to start asking questions, the school's PA system came to life, and an announcement echoed through the school.

"Attention, all teachers," it said. "Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice." Morooka scoffed before turning to the class and parroting the part about the students staying to the classrooms. As he left, chatter among the class began to pick up immediately, only to be interrupted by the sirens of emergency vehicles, which one student noted as sounding suspiciously close. Yui herself didn't bother trying to get a look, as she, like some of the others, had noted that it was incredibly foggy outside, and instead busied herself with packing her things away until a second announcement played over the speakers.

"Attention, all students," it said. "There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home." The announcer repeated the message a second time, but chatter quickly picked up around the room once again, most of them expressing disbelief that something had actually happened. As Yui herself prepared to leave, she was immediately confronted by the brunette that sat next to her, as well as the black-haired girl who sat in front of her.

"Hey, are you going home by yourself?" She said, speaking in a surprisingly friendly tone. "Why don't you come with us? Oh, I nearly forgot! I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit next to you, right?" Yui gave a simple nod, wondering if this Satonaka girl really thought that she might have never bothered to recognize her, especially considering the bright, green athletic jacket she wore over her uniform. Yui's silent acknowledgement didn't seem to put her off any, as she continued, no less deterred than earlier.

"Nice to meet you!" Chie said, before turning slightly to motion towards theh black-haired girl. "This is Yukiko Amagi." Yukiko gave a light bow of her head, showing a sense of politeness and elegance that the girl next to her lacked, in comparison.

"Oh, nice to meet you," Yukiko said. "I'm sorry that this is so sudden..." Yukiko's apology quickly warranted an embarrassed retort, quickly clearing up her intentions of asking Yui some questions. As they began to leave, a brown-haired boy, who Yui recognized as the boy who sat behind her in class, approached them and addressed Chie, holding a DVD case in his hands.

"Uh, umm, Miss Satonaka...?" He said, looking rather despondent. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see... And... I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please, just have mercy until my next paycheck!" He bowed heavily, offering the case over to Chie, and when she took it, gave a hasty goodbye and attempted to leave, only for Chie to yell at him to stop and kick him between the legs to get him to stop.

"What the?! I can't believe this!" She said, despair heavy in her tone. "It's completely cracked... My 'Trial of the Dragon'…!" The boy whimpered, clutching his crotch in pain, and when Yukiko expressed concern for him, Chie brushed him off, telling her to ignore him. As the other two girls left, Yui noted how much pain he seemed to be in, but felt he kind of deserved it, and decided to leave him be as she followed the other two.

As they got the main gate, however, a rather creepy-looking boy approached them, calling out to Yukiko and asking if she wanted to hang out with him. When she expressed confusion as to who he was, and students nearby showed just as much confusion, Yui prepared herself to step in, but when she denied his invitation, he simply got angry and left. Part of her felt somewhat disappointed that he didn't start something and give her something fun to do, but another was relieved that she wouldn't end up in trouble on her first day in school.

"Wh-What did he want from me...?" Yukiko asked, prompting Chie to explain that he likely wanted a date, while Yui thought to herself that the ravenette seemed more airheaded than she looked. Just then, the boy from earlier approached them with his bicycle, prompting Yui to recognize him as the boy who crashed that morning. When she remembered that incident and the one from just a short while ago, she thought that the poor bastard must have some truly terrible luck. When he rode off and other students started gathering to see what was going on, the three finally left the front gate.

"Oh, so you came here because of your parents' jobs?" Chie said, having finally gotten around to asking Yui her questions as they walked around. "Haha, I thought it was something way more serious. But I bet it really does feel like there's nothing here to a city girl like you, huh?" When Yui nodded in affirmation, Chie scratched her head and lamented that, while that did make it a nice place to live, that didn't give them much to show visitors, briefly musing on whether a few types of crafts from Mt. Yasogami were famous or not.

"Oh, wait, there's the Amagi Inn!" She said. "Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!" Yui looked to Yukiko, expecting an embarrassed denial out of humility, but while the denial came, there seemed to be a lack of embarrassment. Instead, she looked almost... tired, as though she'd heard the claim hundreds of times before and actually didn't believe it to be true.

"Huh? It's... just an old inn," Yukiko said. Of course, Chie rebuked her, stating that it was apparently in various magazines as a "hidden treasure". Yui briefly wondered what would potentially separate it from other inns to make it a treasure, only for her attention to be drawn back to Chie as she mentioned that Yukiko was going to inherit control of the inn, claiming that it was basically the one thing keeping the town on its feet.

"By the way," Chie said, her tone indicating a sudden change of topic. "You think any of the guys around here are cute, Minamoto? You're a city girl, so I bet your standards are pretty high, but I'm sure our guys have at least some charm to them!" The question and follow-up statements were so out of the blue that Yui just couldn't help but stare at Chie with a flat expression on her face, speaking her disbelief that Chie had just asked that.

"Uh, right, sorry, probably a little too personal, huh?" Chie said, giving an awkward laugh, accompanied by Yukiko giving Yui an apologetic look and shrug of her shoulders. Thankfully, the topic was soon dropped as the trio noticed a crowd at a nearby intersection. A pair of housewives were gossiping, managing to overhear something about a dead body, surprising all three of them. However, before they could ponder further, a familiar voice called out to them, drawing their attention to Dojima approaching them, asking them what they were doing here.

"We were just passing by in all honesty," Yui replied, as the other two seemed too nervous to speak up instantly. Dojima let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, not picking up any dishonesty in his niece's words.

"Should've figured that'd happen..." He said. "That damn principal. We told him not to let them through here..." Chie, who'd been silent until then, turned to Yui, an inquisitive look on her face as she asked if they knew each other.

"He's my uncle, the one I'm staying with for the next year," She said, prompting Dojima to nod in agreement.

"I'm Detective Dojima, her guardian," He said. "Uhh... Well, how should I say this...? I hope you get along with her." Yui could tell he had to hold himself back from telling them to be careful around her, instead opting to go the more indirect route. As nice as he'd been last night, she noted that he probably still didn't fully trust her not to cause trouble.

"But you three really ought to stop wandering around and head straight home," He said, giving Yui a pointed look, making it clear that he meant her, especially. As he turned to leave, another man in a suit suddenly bolted pass, only to throw up in the nearby bushes, prompting Dojima to call out after him angrily. The whole situation seemed to have hit Chie and Yukiko particularly hard, as they mused on the nature of the incident briefly before parting with Yui, planning on heading to Junes another day. Yui herself had decided to heed her uncle's wishes for now, and headed straight home, though partially due to the fact that she had nothing else to do for the rest of the day.

 _April 12, Evening, Cloudy_

"I wonder if Dad's not coming home again, tonight..." Nanako said, sitting at the living room table alone with Yui. It was a sadly-familiar feeling, being alone at home while the "adults" of the house were off at work, but she could hardly blame Dojima for it. After all, he was likely one of the few detectives who could work a case concerning a sudden dead body in such a small town. Once it was all over, he'd be at home more, and Nanako wouldn't be so lonely.

As if to break her thought process, the news jingle played over the TV, drawing her attention to a story that was, coincidentally, about the very same issue, detailing that the one who had died was Mayumi Yamano, and when the Inaba Police Department was mentioned, Nanako gasped in surprise.

"It'll be fine," Yui said, on reflex. In reply, Nanako nodded and stated that she knew, because this sort of thing happened, since it was her dad's job. While she was thinking about how scary it was that the body had apparently been found hanging from a TV antenna on someone's roof, her attention was drawn back to the television when the jingle for Junes played, prompting Nanako to sing along just like the night before, briefly looking at Yui expectantly.

"You like that song, huh?" Yui said. If Nanako was hoping she'd sing along, the girl would be disappointed; she didn't see much point in singing along to a jingle, but her cousin didn't seem perturbed at all.

"Yep!" Nanako said. "It's popular at school too!" As she began to sing the song to herself over and over again, Yui took note of how quickly Nanako had grown comfortable around her, thankful that, so far, the people around her seemed mostly welcoming.

After she finished helping Nanako clean up, Yui went up to her room, deciding to unpack the rest of her things. Some books, music CDs, DVDs, more clothes... Among the effects was her suburitō, the heavy wooden sword having been her weapon of choice for nearly three years since she started her delinquency. It was basically the thing she could trust the most, at the moment, but even so, she wasn't so cheesy as to give it a name. Still, it gave her some relief to unearth the sword from its packaging. She always felt somewhat naked without it around.

Once she finished unpacking, Yui took another good look around the room. Unfamiliar though it was, it seemed somewhat familiar at the same time. The young woman took a few seconds of thought before she realized exactly why it looked so familiar. With her personal effects now decorating the modest shelf and the dresser, the dull and uninspired room struck her as a downsized version of her own back in Tokyo. It was a realization that she couldn't help but laugh at, and as she relaxed, a wave of fatigue suddenly struck her.

As she sat down on her futon, Yui realized just how tense she'd been all day. She'd been expecting her record to leak or someone to call her out, but so far, it had all just been her own nerves. With a sigh, she resolved to relax a little, tomorrow, and undressed before going to sleep.

 _April 13, Early Morning, Cloudy_

The following morning, Yui made sure to keep her cousin's directions in mind, although she soon found that it was rather easy to find her way around compared to Tokyo. Confident she could find her way to school and back with ease, she relaxed her pace somewhat, recalling her decision last night to avoid stressing out about her life. Just as she did so, however, a familiar blur of black, yellow, and brown whizzed past her, only to collide with a utility pole, sending the person in question tumbling into a trash can and get stuck among the garbage.

"S-Someone...!" She heard him call out as he thrashed about, trying to escape. With an annoyed sigh, Yui decided to do the young man a favor before grabbing him by the belt of his pants and the hem of his uniform jacket and yanking him out onto the street. Coughing and sputtering, likely to get something gross out of his mouth, Yui realized it was the same young man from yesterday. Did his bad luck never end?

"Whew, you saved me, thanks..." He said, brushing more trash off of him. "Oh, hey, you're the transfer student! Yui Minamoto, right?" Yui gave a nod before looking over at the boy's bicycle, then back at him.

"You know," She said. "Considering that two of the three times I've seen your ass get kicked in the past two days was courtesy of your bike, you may want to consider getting a new one." The boy gave a shocked expression before laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ahaha, maybe," He said. "It has been rather squeaky, lately... Oh, my name's Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meetcha." Walking over to pick his bike up, rather than get on, he started walking, motioning for Yui to follow him. With a shrug, she decided to oblige, since she saw no reason to not chat with him on the way to school.

"You been adjusting to this place, yet?" He said. "Don't worry if you haven't, I went through this once too, you know. I transferred in about six months ago, myself. I'm a city boy, too, so I totally get if you're still trying to get used to all the green." Yosuke gave another, more carefree laugh, smirking when Yui shrugged. Maybe it was his rather carefree attitude, or the fact that he was also a transferee from the city, but she already felt more comfortable talking to him than the other girls.

"S'not so bad," She said. "Definitely a hell of a lot easier to breathe, and I don't have to pack in like a sardine just to go to school." Not that she'd ever gone to school more than a handful of times in the past six months, herself, but judging from Yosuke's eager agreement, he was blissfully unaware of it. The difference between the city and the country ended up being the bulk of their conversation on the way to school, ending when Yosuke parted ways with Yui to use the bathroom before class. Considering Yosuke still seemed to feel somewhat out of place, would she eventually get used to living in Inaba? Her uncertainty grew, and she hoped that there, at least, wouldn't be anything more serious than the strange murder that occurred the day right after her arrival...

 _April 13, After School, Cloudy_

"Hey, you free?" It was Yosuke, chatting Yui up from the desk behind her after the final bell rang. "Of course you are, you just got here." Narrowing her eyes, the violette gave Yosuke a deadpan look before speaking.

"Dude," She said. "If you're hitting on me just because we're both from the city, take it elsewhere." Her accusation, while admittedly only half-serious, consequently flustered Yosuke greatly, causing him to stutter and nearly fall out of his seat. In response, he stood up and rose his voice slightly.

"Th-That's not what I'm doing!" He said. "I just want to do something to thank you for helping me out this morning, okay?!" Yui couldn't help but let out an amused snort and smirk at his reaction. Seeing this, Yosuke realized she'd been messing with him and calmed down. Still, he remained standing, and walked over to one of the now empty desks to Yui's left, leaning against it.

"Anyways, you hear about the local delicacy?" When Yui shook her head, an amused grin crossed his face. "It's grilled steak, man! Like that's anything special, huh? I know a place where you can get it cheap. I'll treat you, whaddaya say?" Overhearing their discussion, another familiar face came walking up, clad in her usual green jacket.

"What about me, huh?" Chie said as she approached. "No apologies? Um, my 'Trial of the Dragon'?" Yosuke gave an exasperated sigh, musing on how she always seemed to show up when he talked about food. Once it was settled that he'd be treating both Yui and Chie, the three left school, eventually ending up at the food court of the local Junes, which prompted an irritated protest from Chie as Yosuke returned with a set of completely different meals for the girls.

"THIS is the cheap place you were talking about?" She said. "They don't have grilled steak here!" Yosuke quickly deflected her anger, as he couldn't afford to treat the both of them.

"Still, that's no reason to take us to your place." Chie replied defiantly.

"Dude, this isn't my place or anything." Yosuke replied. When Yui rose an eyebrow in confusion, he took notice, and quickly explained about how his dad was assigned to manage this Junes when it opened, and his whole family moved out to Inaba as a result. Afterwards, the three began to chat amongst each other, mainly small talk, and when Chie mentioned that a lot of places in the shopping district had been closing due to a lack of business, the mood became heavy when Yosuke protested that it wasn't all Junes's fault. However, Yosuke soon noticed a girl sit nearby, apologizing to the two briefly before walking over to talk to her.

"What, is that Yosuke's girlfriend?" Yui asked, again, only half-seriously. Chie laughed it off, telling Yui that he only wished she was.

"That's Saki Konishi," Chie said. "Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. I think she's working here part-time, though." After Yosuke and Saki spoke for a bit, eventually the girl approached Yui and introduced herself, chatting briefly with Yui before heading back off to work. A few more minutes of idle talk between the three passed by, with Chie bringing up an unusual topic.

"You ever hear of the Midnight Channel?" Chie said. Yosuke and Yui exchanged a curious look before turning their attention back to Chie. Taking that as a silent "no", she continued.

"You're supposed to look into a TV that's switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night," She said. "While you're staring at your own image, another person will appear on the screen... And they say that person's your soulmate!" The other two exchanged another look, but this time one of awkward disbelief, wondering if Chie actually believed that.

"That's obviously just some urban legend a middle schooler or some shit cooked up," Yui said, rolling her eyes. "You really shouldn't let yourself get duped into believing something so childish, Satonaka." Yui's response prompted Chie to scrunch up her face in frustration, as she realized both Yui and Yosuke were likely looking down on her.

"Childish, huh?" Chie said. "Well, it's supposed to rain tonight! Why don't we all try it out tonight and see just how childish it really is?" Yosuke sighed, scratching his head.

"Try it ou – Wait, so you mean you haven't even tried it out yourself?" He said, though he was quickly followed up by Yui, who spoke listlessly, clearly deciding there was nothing better to do.

"Sure, why not?" She said. When she caught Yosuke's bewildered look, she gave him a shrug before responding. "Look at it this way. We really don't have anything to lose, do we? Besides, don't actually tell me you're worried it might be real." Yosuke stuttered a bit, unable to find an argument, before he resigned both verbally and in his body language. As a result, the topic soon changed, and eventually the three parted ways, heading home.

 _April 13, Evening, Rain_

Once again, it was a silent meal between Yui and Nanako, with Detective Dojima nowhere in sight. When she asked Nanako if her father called, she shook her head, mentioning he always says he will. However, as if it was timed, the front door unlocked and slid open, Dojima walking in. His face was showing the signs of fatigue and stress, making it clear as day that he was being worked ragged.

"I'm back," He said as he practically collapsed on the sofa. "Did anything happen while I was out?" When Nanako replied that nothing had happened, but he was late again, Dojima gave a tired apology before asking Nanako to switch the television channel to the news, which Nanako did so solemnly.

When she did so, it was currently showing more on the murder of Mayumi Yamano, as to be expected. What wasn't expected, however, was an interview with the girl who'd apparently found Yamano's body, which surprised Dojima. As the three watched, Yui could tell it was less of an interview and more of an interrogation, with the girl unsure how to respond to most of the questions. Despite the blur, however, Yui could tell that it seemed to be Saki Konishi, the girl she'd met just earlier today. As the news continued, it eventually became clear that Dojima had fallen asleep. Nanako decided to place a blanket over her father, leaving him to sleep where he was as the two finished eating and cleaned up. Recalling her promise to Chie earlier, Yui decided to take a brief nap, setting her phone to vibrate as an alarm at 15 minutes to midnight.

After waking up, Yui made sure it was definitely still raining before taking a seat on her couch, directly opposite the television. Even as she stared at the black screen of the TV, she wondered why she was doing this. Sure, she told Chie she would, but was that all there was to it? Was she secretly hoping it was true? If so, what did she have to gain from it? As the clock neared midnight, Yui got up and approached the TV almost certain nothing was going to show.

What surprised her next was, as the clock struck midnight, the screen suddenly flickered to life, showing a very hazy, static-filled image that seemed to display a young woman. Then, as if her head was suddenly a radio, a high-pitched noise filled her ears, causing Yui to grasp her head and stagger around, the only thing she could hear over the noise being a strange voice.

"I am thou," It said. "Thou art I. Thou art the one who opens the door..." As Yui fell to her knees, gradually the noise stopped. Taking a few moments to recover, the young woman eventually stood up, using her table as a support. Looking towards the television, she briefly wondered if any of that was real, or if she was dreaming and had never actually woken up. Out of curiosity, she reached towards the screen of her TV, only for her hand to pass right through with no resistance. In shock, Yui stumbled forward, her head quickly joining her hand inside, only for her shoulder to collide with the top edge of the screen, preventing her from falling further in. A brief struggle later, and she managed to pull herself free, causing her to slip back and slam her head into her table.

"Fuck..." She said, muttering to herself. "This definitely isn't a dream, then..." If nothing else, this was going to be an interesting story to tell in the morning...

 **Author's Notes**

First off, I'd like to apologize to those who found this story and realized it hadn't gotten a proper start since I first posted the prologue in late May. Due to a number of issues in real life, I found myself unable to write this story as I wished, and admittedly, by the time those issues had subsided, I had honestly forgotten about it.

However, I recently received a reminder, and after some encouragement, I found the drive to pick this back up once more! So, to everyone who wanted more of this story, I'm here to say that, yes, I will resume writing Persona 4 Veritas, with the full intent of seeing it through to the end!


	3. Chapter 2: A Fool's Errand

Review Replies!

 **UltimateKuuga & foxchick1:** Thanks, and it's good to be back!

 **KatoriAeku:** Admittedly, I was a bit worried that people might find Yui's overall style and personality a little too close to Kanji's (courtesy of the whole delinquent thing), but so far it doesn't seem to be the case. I'm glad you're looking forward to seeing more of her!

 **UnsungSenpai:** I'll be honest, I'd considered that at first, but I also don't want to skip over too much of the first couple parts, considering it sets the general tone and introduces a lot of important things and people, even if only briefly. I tried to cut out as much unnecessary "filler", of sorts, as possible, but yeah, after these first introductory chapters, things should start pacing themselves a little better – especially once we get into the differences between the canon protagonist and Yui's adventures!

 **Chapter 2: A Fool's Errand**

 _April 14, After School, Rain_

While Yui had met Chie on the way to school that morning and confirmed that they'd both seen the Midnight Channel, the two decided to wait until after classes were over to discuss it. Sure enough, not long after the bell rang, Yosuke approached Yui, although his greeting seemed somewhat nervous.

"Hey, uh, it's not really that important, but..." He said. "...Well, I mean, last night, on the TV, I..." He trailed off before mentioning that he'd tell her later, only to be interrupted by Chie, although something else seemed to be on her mind as she walked up.

"Yosuke, did you hear the rumor?" She said. "Saki-senpai's supposedly the one who discovered that body." Yosuke paused for a bit before wondering if that was the reason for her seeming so down the day before, as well as noting that she wasn't a school, either. Normally, Yui would chalk it up to her playing hooky, but she thought to herself that it certainly made sense.

"By the way, did you see... _it_... last night?" Chie said.

"Uh, well... What about you?" Yosuke said, seeming a bit nervous to talk about it.

"I did! I seriously saw a girl!" Chie replied. "But... my soulmate's a girl? What's that supposed to mean? I couldn't quite tell who it was, but it was a girl for sure... Her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing our school uniform, and..." Yosuke and Yui both looked at each other in surprise, mentioning that they saw the same person, though Yosuke mentioned that his image was much blurrier and couldn't make out as much detail as the girls.

"Wait, so you both saw it, too?!" Chie said, in shock. "And we saw the same girl...? Does that mean... we have the same soulmate?" Yui shook her head, looking between the two of them briefly before casting her gaze downward slightly, in thought.

"I doubt it shows your soulmate, all things considered," she said. Especially considering what happened to her afterwards, which she began to relay to them in detail. When she finished telling her story, it was their turn to look bewildered. Yosuke scratched his head lightly for a moment before replying.

"So, you're saying you got sucked into your TV?" He said. "Were you that tired last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV."

"That'd be one interesting dream, though," Chie said, smirking a bit. "I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic. If it had been bigger..." Chie stopped herself, seeming to remember something, before she suddenly changed topics about how her family wanted a bigger TV.

"Oh yeah?" Yosuke said. "Well, flatscreens are definitely in these days. Wanna go check 'em out on the way back? We're beefing up our electronics department this month." He sighed when Chie mimicked a martial arts pose as she mentioned wanting to see her action movies on a bigger screen before turning to Yui.

"We've got some pretty big ones in stock," he said. "I bet they'd be big enough for you to fit into." He chuckled as he teased Yui about her story, prompting her to sigh in exasperation. Of course they wouldn't believe her. Who would? Even considering they'd all seen their TVs come to life on their own and prove the Midnight Channel rumor at least partially true, it was another thing to take someone at their word that they just so happened to nearly fall _into_ their television. However, rather than mope about it, Yui decided to go to Junes with them, a bit curious to see if she could do it again, as well...

After arriving at Junes, she noted almost instantly that there was... nobody around besides them. The second thing she noticed was Chie freaking out about the size and price of one of the larger televisions. This was the sort of luxury that Yui herself was used to; her house back in Tokyo probably had about five of these in various rooms. Still, she refrained from bringing that up; none of them needed to know of her family's wealth, especially since she didn't want to be asked any favors.

After explaining that not many people shopped for electronics in Inaba, hence the lack of staff, the two decided to test their luck and pressed their hands against the screen lightly, only to be met with the expected resistance, which they laughed off as being the obvious result. When they wandered off, discussing the type of television Chie's parents wanted, Yui remained. Sure, they couldn't get through, but they weren't the ones who almost fell into their TVs last night. Curious, and aware that with a set this large that she really could possibly go all the way inside, Yui approached the flatscreen with her hand extended... and much like the night before, it sunk in with almost no resistance, as if she were pushing it into water.

"Oh yeah, Yui, what kind of TV do... you..." Yosuke said as he turned to Yui, his eyes slowly going wide and his mouth starting to gape in shock as he noticed what was happening. Chie, wondering what exactly had Yosuke so surprised, turned towards Yui, and had a similar reaction.

"I-Is her arm... in the TV...?" Yosuke said as the two of them ran over.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Chie said. "Did you really stick your hand through the screen?!"

"Oh man..." Said Yosuke. "This is for real... That's some magic trick, man! So, how's it work, huh?! What's the magician's secret?!" Yui just gave a shrug, unsure of how she was doing it herself, before getting even more curious and deciding to stick her head in, prompting the two to start panicking.

"It's empty in here..." Yui said. "Like, a whole lot of nothing." Her description only sowed further confusion between Yosuke and Chie, to the point of causing a sudden need to use the restroom in Yosuke, who ran off... only to return just as quick.

"Shit, customers are coming...!" Yosuke said. This revelation tipped the panic to the breaking point as Yosuke and Chie frantically tried to drag Yui out of the television, only for her to suddenly lose her footing and spill into the TV, dragging Yosuke and Chie with her.

The three of them fell for what must've been a few seconds, but when they finally landed, it wasn't as hard as they suspected, causing little more than a bit of disorientation. As the trio got up and tried to get their bearings, they realized that this was no location that they'd ever been in before. While Yosuke and Chie were obviously growing nervous, Yui was more on edge than anything. They'd fallen into a TV, after all – there was no telling whether they were safe or not.

"Everyone okay?" She asked, constantly moving her eyes and head to keep a look out for signs of movement. However, that also gave her a good chance to look around, prompting her to realize something as Yosuke and Chie affirmed their safety.

"Is this... a studio?" Yui said. "Is this fog...? Or some kinda special effects smoke...?" This got the attention of the other two, who started to look around, as well.

"There's no place like this in Inaba, is there...?" Chie said. Even though she was the only native to the area among them, even she sounded uncertain. The two looked to Yui, as if looking to her for guidance. The violette immediately thought to head back, but soon realized something as she took another look around.

"...I can't see where we fell in from," she said. "We need to find the way out. It could be dangerous here." She was sure she could handle herself in a fight, but there was no way Yosuke and Chie were up to the same kind of scraps she was used to, and if she had to protect them, she wouldn't be able to fight very well, herself. So, leaving was the best course of action. It seemed to be one that the two of them agreed with, as well, appearing to find comfort in how calmly Yui was handling the situation. With a plan of action in place, the trio began to search, looking for a potential way out.

Eventually, the found themselves in what seemed to be an old, abandoned apartment complex. The atmosphere of the place was far different from the studio-esque feel of the last area, to the point that even the air they breathed felt almost oppressive, in a way. The fog made it difficult to navigate, however, and even Yui was starting to become somewhat discouraged about finding an exit, though she didn't let it show for the sake of Yosuke and Chie's morale.

As they continued onward, the trio found themselves in what seemed to be a bedroom, with the fog almost seeming to lighten up as they entered. As Yui and Yosuke walked in, the brunette checked his phone, completely unsurprised by the lack of reception. They were soon followed by Chie, who'd been lagging behind a little due to her difficulty seeing.

"Can't you guys slow down a little?" She said. "It's hard enough to see where you're going..." When the others turned to face her, they were met with a disturbing sight, and when Chie noticed their reaction, she turned around as well to see a bunch of copies of the same poster along the walls, all with the face torn out, alongside splatterings of what Yui hoped was just paint.

"Aargh!" Yosuke said, suddenly crying out. "I can't hold it any longer...! My bladder's gonna explode!" Placing his hands in front of his crotch, he raced over to a nearby wall and began to unzip his pants, away from the view of the girls. Even so, Chie expressed her disgust and Yui sighed before facepalming and turning away.

"This is why you go the first chance you get..." Yui said, grumbling. "Not wait until you're freaking out." Chie sighed before turning around as well, but even with them not looking Yosuke still couldn't do it, hoping that it wouldn't lead to a bladder infection. Now that he wasn't distracted by needing to use the bathroom, however, he noticed a chair, above which hung a looped handkerchief on a rope.

"Dude..." He said. "This chair and rope... That kind of arrangement is never good..." The sight gave him shivers, and Yui quickly found Chie grabbing onto the sleeve of her jacket gently.

"Hey, Yui," she said. "What's your take on all of this...?" The taller girl looked to Yosuke, who also seemed curious on what she had to say on the matter. Taking another quick look around, her gaze finally settled on the noose before speaking.

"...Nooses are bad," she said. The response earned some stunned looks from Yosuke and Chie, clearly surprised she felt like joking around. Their expressions, in turn, caused Yui's cheeks to turn a light pink, her voice and expression suddenly turning to ones of irritation.

"What?" Yui said. "You asked me what I thought, and I know just as fucking much as you two! Did you expect some Jungian-level insight or something?" The outburst prompted panicked apologies from Chie and Yosuke before the three suddenly felt a wave of fatigue hit them like a truck. As they turned to leave, however, Yosuke stopped.

"Hey," he said. "I think I've seen that poster before..." Chie was quick to respond, saying that she just wanted to leave before pushing him out the door, with Yui right behind.

Eventually, they managed to find their way back to the studio-esque stage they had fallen in at, relieved that they could, at least, navigate somewhat around the eerie landscape without too much trouble. Yui herself had half-expected to be attacked by some weird monsters or the like; in an alien landscape with visibility so limited that they'd never see an ambush coming? It was a perfect set-up, like something right out of a movie. Her expectations almost seemed to come to fruition, however, as Chie spotted a silhouette approaching them through the fog.

The figure didn't actually appear hostile, however, and in fact looked like it was inching forward cautiously. Eventually, they began to be able to make out detail; it had a red torso and limbs with a thick, white stripe down the center, dotted with large, red buttons. It looked almost clown-like, but the rounded, almost ice-cream-like shape made no question that it wasn't human. In fact, with the large zipper adorning its neck – or, at least, what Yui assumed to be its neck – and cartoonish, animal-like head, it looked more like a costume than a creature.

"What is this thing...?" Chie asked. "A monkey? A bear...?" When Yui gave it a second look, she could definitely see a sort of circus bear theme going on with it. Is that what it was supposed to be? A circus bear mascot of some sort?

"Wha...?" It said. "Who are you guys...?" Though it spoke, surprising Chie and Yosuke, its mouth didn't open, further pushing the mascot costume likeness. When Chie suddenly got aggressive, the costume cowered. Apparently, it was easily-intimidated. With a sigh, Yui figured it'd be easier to approach it calmly. Moving her out to her side in front of Chie, the violette took a few quiet steps forward before kneeling down to about eye level with the terrified costume.

"Who are you?" She said. "I'm Yui Minamoto. These are my friends, Yosuke and Chie." Her approach seemed to work, as the costume seemed to calm down, though it seemed to bounce back a little _too_ well, suddenly speaking as though the scare from earlier had never even happened.

"I'm Teddie," he said. "I live here by myself." When pressed about where they were, the "bear" simply shrugged, stating that he didn't know. He elaborated, saying that it didn't have a name and never did. His explanation came with a warning, however, to return to the "other side", because it was dangerous when the fog cleared. The warning didn't seem to sit well with the others, however, because Yosuke started to grow irritated at his own growing confusion, and Chie getting desperate for a way out, to the point of venting at this "Teddie". Her frustrated outburst prompted Teddie to hide behind Yui, whom he apparently already seemed much more comfortable around.

"A-Anyways," he said. "You should hurry back..." Yui sighed before looking down at the bear.

"We would," she said. "But we don't know how. Do you?" In response to her question, Teddie gave a nod, then tapped his foot against the ground a few times. Almost immediately, a stack of CRT televisions suddenly burst into existence between the three, causing Yosuke and Chie to jump in surprise. When the three moved to the front to examine them, suddenly, Teddie began pushing them through, and after the same falling feeling they experienced when they first arrived, they suddenly found themselves on the floor of Junes once again, in front of the same TV they fell through before.

After taking a few seconds to notice they really were back, they overheard an announcement over the store's PA system, announcing a daily limited-time sale, which made them realize how long they'd been in that strange world. Yosuke, however, took notice of a poster nearby, showing Misuzu Hiiragi, the enka ballad singer who had been married to Taro Namatame, the man who had an affair with Mayumi Yamano, prompting them to realize it was the same poster in that world.

Yosuke had just begun speculating on whether or not that world had something to do with the announcer's death, before deciding to completely forget about what just happened. Chie and Yui agreed; Yui herself was starting to feel somewhat ill, so the three parted ways and headed home.

 _April 14, Evening, Rain_

Sluggishly, Yui trodded into the Dojima household, finding her uncle and cousin sat at the coffee table, waiting on some instant noodles to cook. As Dojima welcomed her home, she proceeded to sit down on her cushion with little grace, practically falling down onto it. After a few moments, Dojima gave a small hum before turning to Yui.

"Well, I doubt you'd know," he said. "But have you heard anything about a student named Saki Konishi?" Yui took a moment to think, her fatigue stalling her thought process for a moment before she replied.

"There's a bunch of rumors," she said. "Though all I know for sure is that she wasn't at school today." Dojima's response seemed a bit torn, as though he'd been hoping she might've heard something before mentioning that Saki's parents had reported her missing and that she hadn't been found, yet. That got Yui's attention; first a murder, now a missing girl? She hadn't even been here a week, yet, and already there was one incident after another... Her thought process was interrupted when she suddenly sneezed, as if her body was reminding her that she was getting sick. Once she'd taken the cold medicine her uncle offered, she went right up to her room to sleep, too exhausted from the day's events to do much else.

 _April 15, Afternoon, Rain_

That morning, Yui had managed to catch Dojima as he was leaving for work, which Nanako explained was due to him getting a call. Likely for work, but considering Saki Konishi had went missing the day before, she was hardly surprised. On the way to school, she overheard a few girls talking about police activity, quickly followed by the sound of police sirens nearby. However, she didn't have the time to investigate, nor was she that curious to begin with, so she'd pushed it out of her mind and continued on her way to school.

The school assembly that had been called just minutes ago brought that scenario back into her mind as Chie wondered what it was for. She had an idea; something must've happened that morning that involved the school, and it was only until now did they have enough information to deem it important enough to inform the student body. It'd happened a few times back in Tokyo, before she stopped attending school regularly, but she doubted it happened all that often here in such a quiet town. Eventually, Sofue-sensei approached the podium, getting the students' attention before the principal took the mic.

"I regret to say that I have a terrible announcement for all of you," he said. "One of our third-year students, Ms. Saki Konishi of Class 3... has passed away." The announcement shocked all the students, but while Yui and Chie were also surprised, their attention turned to Yosuke, even as the principal continued speaking. They knew how hard he had to be taking the news, and it showed on the pained expression he had on his face.

As the assembly ended and Yui and Chie made their way back to their classroom, they overheard a couple of students gossiping about how Saki had been found dead the same way as Mayumi Yamano, but from a telephone pole as opposed to an antenna. Supposedly, the cause of death was some unknown poison, and when the girls wandered off, Chie scoffed, figuring that it was easy to just toss around random theories since they didn't know Saki, personally. It was then that Yosuke approached them, a serious look on his face.

"Hey," he said. "...Did you guys check out the TV last night? Something kept bothering me, so... I watched it again, and... I think the girl on the screen was Saki-senpai." The revelation that Yosuke had seen her on the Midnight Channel surprised the two, but not as much as his next statement, telling the girls that she looked like she was in pain before disappearing from the screen.

"You heard that Senpai's body was found in a similar situation as that announcer's, right?" He said. "Well, remember that guy you told us about? How he was all excited that his soulmate was the announcer? Maybe... Just maybe, but... Ms. Yamano might've been on the Midnight Channel before she died, too." As Yui thought about it, she nodded, concluding that it _did_ make sense.

"So," she said. "You think that people who appear on that Midnight Channel... are going to die?" Yosuke took a moment before nodding, but following up with how he couldn't be absolutely certain. He then brought up what Teddie had mentioned the day before when they were in that other world, about how it was dangerous when the fog cleared.

"True," she said. "Plus, that room with the posters might be connected to the announcer... If so, then this is all too closely-linked to be a coincidence."

"Yeah," Yosuke said. "If it is, we might find a place that has something to do with Senpai, too, if we look around." Chie managed to nervously start to ask a question, but stopped herself short. Yosuke clearly knew what she meant, though, because he nodded.

"Mhm," he said. "I'm thinking about going in again. I want to find out for myself." Chie quickly rebuked him, telling him to let the police handle it, only for Yosuke to interrupt her, stating that the police hadn't made any progress, so they couldn't be relied on, and that even if they told them about the TV world, they'd just write them off as a joke. When he stated that he had to know why Saki had to die, though, Chie seemed to back down a little. He then looked down solemnly, stating that he couldn't just ignore it, now, before looking to Yui.

"Sorry," he said. "But you're the only person who can help me. I'm gonna go get ready. I'll wait for you at Junes." As they watched him run off back home, Yui gave a sigh as Chie wondered if they should stop him or not. Either way, with school let out due to the incident, they returned to their class to grab their things before leaving. Yui, though, had already decided on her course of action, stopping by the Dojimas' house to pick up her wooden sword.

 _April 14, After School, Rain_

"You guys came!" Yosuke's voice held some clear relief as he spotted Yui and Chie approaching, a rope tied around his waist and looped in one arm, a pair of wrenches tucked into it, and a golf club in his hand.

"We came to stop you, idiot!" Chie said. "C'mon, you really shouldn't do this! It's too dangerous!" Yosuke nodded, but argued that if they went in from the same spot that they might meet Teddie again. However, a "maybe" wasn't good enough for Chie, prompting Yosuke to mention again that he couldn't pretend that it had nothing to do with him, before turning to Yui.

"How about you?" He said. "Can you just walk away from this?" Yui, with her wooden sword resting on her shoulder, closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Whether I can or not," she said. "It stands that you can't get in there without my help, right? In that case, then I should be the only one going in with you. Besides, I know how to fight; it'd be easier on me if I had less people to protect if it gets dangerous." Yosuke nodded, affirming that it'd just be him and her going in, before reassuring Chie that he didn't have a plan and handing her the loop of rope he had.

"I'm leaving you in charge of this," he said. "It's a lifeline. Hold onto it and wait here. You can pull us back if we need it." He then looked to Yui, finally noticing the large wooden sword she had.

"Oh, uh," he said. "This was going to be an improvised weapon for you, but I guess you came prepared, huh?" Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before setting aside the golf club. Determined not to waste any more time, he gave Yui a nod before the two pushed their way into the TV, ignoring Chie's protests.

Upon landing, Yui managed to keep herself on her feet, although Yosuke wasn't so lucky, having landed right on his rear. After taking a moment to orient themselves, they quickly realized that, yes, they ended up in the same location as last time. It seemed like even this crazy world was connected to theirs from place to place.

"Y-You guys...!" Said a familiar voice. "Why'd you come back...?" Sure enough, approaching them was the all-too-recognizable bear suit that was Teddie.

"I get it!" He said. "You're the ones behind this!" What he said took the two by surprise, and after he explained that the world was getting messed up due to someone throwing people into it, he concluded that nobody threw them in, which meant that were the culprits. His accusations annoyed both Yui and Yosuke, but as they denied their involvement, Yosuke came to a realization, turning to Yui.

"Wait a sec..." He said. "Those people who got thrown in here... Does he mean Senpai and the announcer?"

"I'd imagine so," Yui said. "Based on what we put together so far, that seems to be the most likely scenario. Someone throws people in here, they appear on the Midnight Channel because they're inside the world in the TV, and when they die in this world, they end up back in ours..." That would also explain why they were hanging from a TV antenna and a telephone pole, respectively. Nobody hung them there, that's just where they ended up – because they were, effectively, "kicked out" of the TV world. That had to be it.

"Huh?" Teddie said, clearly confused. "Midnight Channel...? A-Anyways, why'd you come in here? It's a one-way door! You can't get out once you're in! Remember how I had to let you guys out?" Yosuke scoffed in response, brushing him off as he held up the rope tried to his waist.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. "We don't need your help this time! See, this time we have a lifeli-" Yosuke cut himself short when he realized how slack the rope was, noticing that it'd been cut off, to both his and Yui's surprise.

"H-Hey!" He said. "You better let us out once we're done investigating here!" Teddie growled in response, stating that he wanted to do the investigating, and demanded that they prove to him that they weren't the culprits.

"That's not something you can just prove on the spot," Yui said, starting to get annoyed. When Teddie took that as proof against the contrary, Yosuke only got angrier, as well, before clarifying how people have died every time it'd gotten foggy in the past week, demanding that Teddie give them some information if he had any.

"A dead body?" He said. "Whenever the fog appears...? Well, I know that if it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here. That's when the Shadows get violent..." The term 'Shadows' confused the both of them briefly, only for Teddie to continue placing the blame on them. His constant accusations had finally broken Yui and Yosuke's patience, however.

"You keep telling us to prove our innocence," Yui said. "But you're the most suspicious thing here! Take off that stupid costume and show yourself, asshole!" With a nod to each other, the two practically tackled Teddie to the ground, Yui holding down the pitifully-flailing bear while Yosuke unzipped the head of the costume, only to reveal that it was completely empty.

"What the hell?!" Yosuke said, leaping back as Yui tensed up, only to peer closer inside and see that, sure enough, it was completely empty.

"The fuck...?" She said, taking a look at the head that they'd taken off. She half-expected it to start talking as the body rolled onto its front and started searching for the top, but, thankfully, it remained silent and inexpressive. Eventually, the body located its head and put it back on, restoring life to Teddie's face.

"Me, the culprit...?" He said. "I wouldn't do such a thing... I just live here... I just want to live here in peace..." His sincere response, despite effectively being manhandled and beheaded, caught the two off-guard.

"Okay," Teddie said, continuing on. "I'll trust you two for now, but if you really aren't the culprits, I want you to find the real guy behind this and stop him! Promise me, or else... I'm not gonna let you guys out of here." That was no better than pressing a knife to their collective throat, and they immediately knew it. Yui and Yosuke looked to each other before nodding.

"Fine," Yui said. "We were going to try and figure that out, anyways." Thankfully, it all worked out in the end, even if they'd gone through plenty of frustration before it. And yet, for some reason, she suddenly recalled the words of that strange man, Igor, she'd dreamed of on her way to Inaba. She recalled how he said she'd encounter a misfortune and have to deal with a mystery... Was this what he'd meant?

Still, Teddie thanked her for her agreeing to his offer, with Yosuke bemoaning that they pretty much had no choice. However, they still had no idea where to start, which meant they'd have to ask Teddie. When they asked, the only thing he knew was where the last person came in, which Yosuke immediately took to mean Saki.

"Oh, one thing first," Teddie said. "You two should put these one." The bear appeared to pull two small objects out of... somewhere, before handing them to Yui and Yosuke. When she got a closer look at them, they were glasses. Although confused at first, when the two put them on, they were surprised to find that their vision suddenly cleared up, as if the fog wasn't there.

"With those on," Teddie said. "You should be able to walk through the fog easier. Uh, but I can only show you where the place is. You'll have to defend yourselves."

"What happened to relying on you?!" Yosuke said. "Th-There better not be any monsters, you understand?! I mean, we brought weapons, but they're more for show..."

"Speak for yourself," Yui said. She finally gave her wooden sword a hefty swing with just one hand, the weight of the sword and the strength behind it demonstrated by the sheer fact that Yosuke could feel a small breeze made when she swung it.

"Holy shit," he said, clearly a bit stunned. "All right, uh, I guess that means you're on the front line, Minamoto..." Yui gave him a nod in confirmation, as that was her intent the entire time.

"Good thing you can fight, then," Teddie said. "Because I can't help you. I've got no muscles. Oh, oh! I'll give you guys moral support from a safe distance!" Yui stood there, staring at Teddie for a few seconds. It made sense, considering he was an empty bear costume and all, but curiosity still took precedence as she stepped forward and intended to give Teddie a light push, only for him to fall flat on his back the moment she put even the slightest bit of pressure on him.

"Noooooo..." He said weakly, flailing about. The two just stared in amazement; sure, he hardly managed to put up a fight when they were pulling his head off earlier, but she assumed it was because she was particularly strong, not because he was about as strong as tissue paper.

"Oh yeah," Teddie said, letting his limbs relax as she spoke. "Can I ask you something? Who's this 'Senpai' person you mentioned? Someone you know?" Yosuke's expression changed from bewilderment to moroseness, before shaking his head and stating that it didn't matter right now.

"Anyways," Yosuke said. "At least now we know Senpai was probably thrown in here. Maybe we can find more information once we get there. Let's go." As they began to walk, Teddie cried out, quickly reminding them that the bear was _still_ on the floor, apparently unable to get up. With a sigh, Yui helped him onto his feet before they left.

The place Teddie lead them to, however, was a far more familiar scene than any of the ones before. The studio and the apartments were all unfamiliar, but the area they were in now was practically a carbon-copy of the shopping district, albeit with the same, ominous, red and black sky as always.

"Some weird places like this have appeared here recently," Teddie said. "Things are getting so tangled, I dunno what to do..." The way Teddie phrased that confused Yui; how could a place like this just "appear"? Still, unlike the last two, this really was scarily-similar to the shopping district.

"Out of all the places in town," Yosuke said. "Why did this one get replicated?" Teddie didn't seem to have a solid answer for them, shrugging and saying something about how this was reality for the one who was here, which hardly clarified anything to the two. Yosuke seemed to come to a revelation, however, and soon began running north, forcing Yui and Teddie to quickly follow after him.

"I knew it...!" Yosuke said, standing in front of the entrance to a shop. "This is the liquor store that Senpai's parents run. Does this mean... Senpai disappear here? What could've happened...?" As Yosuke took a few steps forward to investigate, Teddie suddenly started to panic.

"W-Wait a second," he said. "Th-They're here! Shadows... I had a feeling they were going to attack...!" Just then, from the doorway, a pair of what Yui could only describe as monsters made from sludge wearing masks crawled out of the entrance, though they seemed to ignore Yosuke. As they lifted into the air, the sludge reformed itself into what seemed to be pink, striped balls with large mouths on one side and the mask the sludge was wearing on the other. As they began to approach Yui, a familiar voice and pain rang through her head, time seeming to slow around her as she held her head with her left hand.

"I am thou," it said. "Thou art I. The time has come. Open thine eyes and call forth what is within!" When it passed, Yui pulled her hand away when she realized she was now holding a card in it. On one side was a design that felt oddly familiar, a striking blue featuring a mask on top of a checkered background. When she turned it over, aside from an ornate, golden border, the card was blank. As the card began to shine brightly, she felt no panic or surprise; instead, she felt confidence welling up inside of her, starting to grin as one word entered her mind, eventually leaving her lips.

"Per... so... na..." Just then, the card seemed to burst into blue flames, though she felt no heat. Instead, power seemed to flow through her, and when she clenched her hand into a fist, the power burst forth, taking shape into a silhouette behind her. Detail quickly followed, giving form to a large humanoid wearing a mask and headband, with a large number of belt-like "tails" attached to the back of the headband that gave it the appearance of having long, flowing hair. It was dressed in what appeared to be a long, black coat with the collar turned up, clawed gloves, and boots that appeared to have blade-like stilettos. In its hand was a rather stylized spear, making it clear that it was meant for combat.

The appearance of the figure behind Yui almost seemed to scare the monsters that had appeared, though when it faded, they seemed to regain some of their composure. Still, there was no doubt, in Yui's mind, that she could defeat them, now. Whatever strange power she had just tapped into, she knew she could win, and gave the monsters a cocky grin before taunting them with a pair of fingers in a "come get me" gesture. The taunt seemed to have its desired effect, as the creatures quickly launched themselves at her, with Teddie scrambling to safety when they did so.

When the first one came close, Yui sidestepped the blatantly-telegraphed attack and swung her sword one-handed, slamming it into where the monster's nose would normally be and sending it flying into the other. The second creature was stunned, but only briefly before resuming its charge. However, learning from its compatriot's mistake, its path swerved in an attempt to attack her from the side. Still, that didn't give it an advantage against Yui.

Pivoting on her foot, the girl grabbed the creature's large tongue, which had been lolling out of its mouth like some strange dog before slamming it into the ground, letting go, then completing the spin, using the momentum and both hands to bring her sword down on the monster, smashing it into paste like a large, disgusting pimple.

By that point, the first monster had recovered and was about to come at Yui a second time, but curious to try out her new power, she reached out, doing the first thing that felt natural. The card from earlier reappeared in her hand, and as she crushed it, the figure from before reappeared.

"Tear it apart, Izanagi!" She said, its name coming to her just as naturally. Izanagi extended its hand, and a bolt of lightning came from the sky, striking the monster. The lightning clearly did the trick, as the creature burst apart into slime like the one before it, and with the threat appearing to have been dealt with, Izanagi vanished from behind Yui, the girl relaxing her stance.

"Holy crap..." Yosuke said, rushing over. "Wh-What was that?! I mean, I figured you were good in a fight, but damn! Did I hear you say 'Persona'? What was it – I mean, what did you do?! Do you think I can do it too?!" Compared to Yosuke's excited tone and mannerisms, Teddie approached and spoke much more calmly, waving down the brunette.

"Calm down, Yosuke," he said. "You're troubling Sensei! But, gosh almighty, you're amazing, Sensei! I am one impressed bear. I can't believe you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the Shadows were scared of you... Are you the one who's able to bring people into this world?" Yui herself was rather surprised by it, but she kept her cool and avoided making it clear that she had just as little information on how or why that happened, herself.

"Yeah," she said. "Well, I'm the one who brought myself and my friends in, anyways." She didn't want Teddie jumping to conclusions about them being the culprits again, after all.

"That's what I thought," he said, nodding. "That's really something! Don't you think so, Yosuke?" Rather than words of agreement, though, Yosuke pushed Teddie over, but in a way that caused the bear to rock back up onto his feet.

"Dude," Yosuke said. "You call her Sensei and then don't show me any respect?" When Teddie solemnly apologized, Yui looked over to Yosuke.

"Hey," she said. "Don't be so harsh on the guy. To be fair, when I first met you, you _were_ rolling around, stuck in a trash can, so you might be more along the lines of the comic relief." Yosuke's surprised reaction got a laugh out of Yui and Teddie, lightening up the mood a little.

"Well," he said. "I'll admit that I should probably earn it first, yeah. I won't hold it against you, Ted. Besides, compared to _that_ showing, I may as well have been wetting myself." With mutual apologies out of the way, Yosuke and Teddie already seemed to be getting along better than earlier, which got a nod of approval out of Yui.

"All right," Yosuke said. "You keep this up, Minamoto, and I think we'll be fine from here on out. Now, let's get back to the investigation!" The trio all nodded to each other before approaching the liquor store, but before they could enter, a medley of voices began to creep up around them. There was no source to them, and while Yui was on-guard for more enemies, nothing ever showed. Instead, it was as if they were being forced to listen, the voices speaking about different things, from how Junes was running the local shops out of business, to gossip about how Saki was working part-time at Junes despite her family losing customers. The voices were clearly starting to get to Yosuke, however, and he almost seemed to be about to start shouting back until Yui placed a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. Instead, he turned to Teddie to ask a question.

"Hey," he said. "Hey, Ted! You said that this place is reality for those that are here, right?! So, does that mean this was Senpai's reality when she wandered in here...?" Again, Teddie looked uncertain.

"I only know about what's over here..." He said. "I have no idea if this is related to what her life was like back in your world." Yosuke's expression turned to one of determination as he nodded before starting to walk inside with Yui and Teddie quick behind him, intent on finding out for himself.

As they entered, the inside of the store seemed fairly accurate, though in place of a proper ceiling, they could see the workings of a studio, just like their entry point, with supports completely visible over the walls separating the store from the rest of the studio. Voices began to fill the air again once they were inside, but this time, the most prevalent was a man, apparently yelling at Saki for working at Junes and demanding an explanation.

"I... I can't believe this..." Yosuke said. "She seemed like she had fun at work... She never said anything like this to me... You're telling me _this_ was how Senpai really saw things?!" It was then that he noticed something on the table nearby and approached it, Yui close behind.

"These photos..." He said. "Hey... Is this...? It's the photo we took the other day with the other part-timers at Junes... Wh-Why's it cut up like this...?" Yui looked over Yosuke's shoulder, taking note that she seemed to be earnestly smiling. It didn't look like a fake smile to her, at the very least. That's when they finally heard Saki's voice, however.

"I..." She said. "I never had the chance to say it... I always wanted to tell Hana-chan... that he was a real pain in the ass. I was nice to him just because he was the store manager's son, that's all... But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic... What a dip." Yosuke's breath shuddered as he listened to Saki speak, practically on the verge of tears as Saki continued on, describing her hatred for Junes and how she wished everything would disappear. As Yosuke denied what he was hearing, another voice came from behind them, sounding like Yosuke's, but with a sinister cadence to it.

"It's so sad..." The voice said. "I feel so sorry for myself... Boo hoo..." Surprised, Yosuke and Yui turned to see a second Yosuke speaking, though this one had an eerie, yellow glow in his eyes.

"Actually," he said. "I'm the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass!" As he laughed, Yosuke ran up to confront him.

"Who are you?!" Yosuke said. "I-I wouldn't think that..." The double simply snickered in response, a twisted sneer on his face.

"How long are you gonna keep deluding yourself?" He said. "Screw the shopping distriict, and Junes too! You're sick of everything, especially living out in the sticks! You put on a good show of being carefree and happy-go-lucky 'cuz you're so terrified of being alone. The more the merrier, right? You've gotta be surrounded by people to block out the pain of isolation." Even as Yosuke attempted to deny what the doppelganger was saying, it continued on, Yui readying herself for a fight in case the double got violent. She could tell that this thing had the same feel to it as the monsters from before, even if it could speak.

"And what's this about checking out this world for Saki-senpai's sake?" He said. "Hah! I know the real reason you came snooping..."

"S-Stop it!" Yosuke said, clearly in a panic. Yui looked to him, wondering if that this fake actually did somehow know what Yosuke was thinking, and if everything it'd said so far was true. Again, the doppelganger let out a mocking laugh.

"Why so panicked?" He said. "I thought I was just spouting bullshit! Or maybe, I _do_ know everything you're thinking! Why's that? Because I _am_ you! You just came because you thought it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do out in this shithole? A world inside the TV... Now _that's_ exciting! You didn't have a single other reason for coming here, did you?!" His words were clearly having an effect on Yosuke, who was visibly starting to break down, even as he weakly denied everything. At this point, Yui decided that she'd had enough of watching and listening and took a step forward.

"Hey," she said. But, before she could continue on, Yosuke suddenly turned towards her, yelling.

"Don't come any closer!" He said. "Don't listen to him! None of what this fake is saying is true, okay?!"

"A fake?" The double said. "Please... I'm you. Your Shadow. There's nothing I don't know about you! You're just trying to act like a big shot... If all went well, hey, maybe you could even be a hero! And that Senpai you were so sweet on...? Her death was the perfect excuse!" The "Shadow's" words finally made Yosuke snap, as opposed to causing him to panic. Clearly, pressing the button that was his feelings for Saki was the breaking point.

"Screw that!" He said. "I don't know you! You can't be me, you son of a bitch!" As Yosuke spoke the last few words, the doppelganger began to laugh maniacally. Teddie flinched, and Yui herself could feel the other Yosuke's power begin to swell.

"That's right!" It said. "I am _me_ , now! I'm not you anymore, see!" The surge in power became more visible, now, with dark energy swirling about. It actually seemed to draw from Yosuke, too, as the young man collapsed, Yui rushing forward to grab him and pull him away from what she figured was a dangerous scenario. Sure enough, the energy surrounding the Shadow began to expand, and as it dissipated, it revealed a massive monster.

At first, it appeared to be a giant frog with camouflage-patterned skin and an almost cartoonish-looking face. However, as Yui angled her gaze upward, she realized that the "frog" was merely the legs of this monstrosity, with a pitch-black, humanoid torso wearing yellow gloves, a red scarf, and four-pointed stars for eyes atop it. The walls of the liquor store fell, revealing the entire studio, as if to make room for the gigantic beast.

"I am a Shadow," the Shadow said. "The true self! I'll crush everything that bores me... Starting with you!" Before Yui could even prepare to move, the Shadow launched forth a massive gust of wind, sending her flying away from Teddie and Yosuke and to the ground, prompting the monster to laugh.

"How long can you survive this?!" It said. As she got to her feet, Yui realized there was no way she'd be able to fight this thing with just her sword and fists. With a growl of defiance, she realized she had to call on her new powers for this fight, and reached out to summon her Persona.

"Long enough to send you back to the trash, you piece of shit!" She said. "Izanagi!" Calling forth her Persona, Izanagi appeared, striking down the Shadow with a bolt of lightning, causing its legs to buckle. That gave her the opening to send Izanagi in for a slash with its spear, but even as he struck, the Shadow managed to recover and get in a swat at Yui, who was unable to dodge the massive palm strike in time. Despite the size difference, she managed to remain on her feet, though, and renewed her retaliation against the massive beast. In the distance, meanwhile, Yosuke began to come to, with Teddie watching over him.

"What...?" Yosuke said, muttering as he began to take in the scene of Yui battling the massive Shadow. As he watched the exchange of lightning, wind, and physical strikes, Yosuke felt both guilty and responsible. Was this his fault...? Was him being so weak the cause of his new friend getting hurt to defend him...? When Teddie realized Yosuke was conscious and watching the battle, he turned to him.

"Yosuke," he said. "That thing came from inside you... As much as I know you don't want to admit it, it's still a part of you." That was really a part of him? Teddie was right; he definitely didn't want to admit it, and even as he watched the fight, part of him still want to deny everything that thing had said, but at the same time... Yui was the first person he felt like he could really trust and open up to in Inaba, and here she was, getting beaten up to defend him. Hell, she might even die...

As Yosuke began to open up to the idea of admitting his faults, the Shadow began to visibly waver, also in part to Yui's relentless assault. When it staggered and left a wide opening, Yui saw her chance and send Izanagi in one final time. The Persona rushed in, spearing the Shadow right in the chest before pulling away as the wound burst open with ichor. The monster screamed in agony as all of the power it had accumulated began to disperse, returning it back to its original shape, exhausted and no longer able to fight.

Yui, herself, was out of breath. At first, she'd felt like this Persona ability was some absurd power, but now she realized that using it constantly drained her both physically and mentally. After the intense battle, she was absolutely drained, and though she almost felt like collapsing to her knees, she caught her breath and turned to Yosuke and Teddie who were approaching her and the Shadow.

"I... I..." Yosuke said, clearly distraught. He had trouble looking Yui in the eye, and while he expected Yui to lash out at him, or blame him for causing this, her words caught him by surprise.

"You okay?" She said. Yosuke looked up at her in obvious bewilderment. She'd just been through a fight no other person had probably ever dreamed of being in, and she was asking if _he_ was okay? What was she, a saint?

"Y-Yeah..." He said. Yui and Teddie turned to face Yosuke's Shadow, who was just looking at the trio silently, not even sneering or making a face at them like he was before the battle. Yui and Teddie then turned their attention to Yosuke, who looked like he'd been the one fighting, instead, based on the pained look on his face. Clearly, he was still having trouble admitting to everything.

"Hey," Yui said. "You're still you. This is only one part of who you are." Though she sounded confident in her words, the truth was that she was kind of talking out of her ass. She didn't know Yosuke well enough to know everything about him, but she trusted he'd know what she meant. Sure enough, he turned to her when she spoke, and his expression changed to one of gentle realization.

"I'm... still me..." He said, before turning to look at his Shadow again. "Dammit... It hurts to face yourself... I knew you weren't lying... But I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it. You really are a part of me..." The Shadow gave a solemn nod and a gentler, more confident smile before it glowed in a brilliant blue light, reforming into a form reminiscent of the monster Yui had just faced, but as a smaller humanoid. It wore a white jumpsuit and retained the scarf and eyes of the humanoid, but the part that had been the frog's "mouth" was now a chestguard. Eventually it faded into a card like the one Yui had received, floating down into Yosuke's hand, where it disappeared.

"Is this...?" Yosuke said. "...I think it's my Persona." Afterwards, he turned to Yui and Teddie, only to crouch down, fatigued, despite the fact that he hadn't been fighting.

"When we heard Senpai's voice," he said. "...I wonder if that was something Senpai had been keeping deep down inside... 'He was a real pain in the ass', huh? What a way to find out... If you weren't here, Yui, I don't know what would've happened... Thanks." Yui gave a silent nod, stepping over to reach down and help him up. Her arm ached from that simple gesture, but she kept her expression stoic and said nothing. After all, she didn't want to worry Yosuke even more after what he'd just went through.

"Hey, Teddie," Yosuke said as he stood up. "Could Senpai have been attacked by her other self here, like how it just happened to me?"

"I think so," Teddie said. "The Shadows here were originally born from humans. Sometimes the fog clears. Then they all go berserk... And you saw what happens next. A strong-willed Shadow draws others to it, and the big mass of Shadows kills the host." That explained why people died whenever it got foggy in their world; it wasn't any sort of symbolism, it was just because the fog cleared on this side, and that's when they died...

"You guys seem pretty worn out," he said. "This world isn't made for humans. It's not comfortable for you, here. I don't hear any more voices, so I think we're done here. Let's go back." Yui nodded, and the two followed Teddie back to the place where they entered the TV world.

"Hey, Teddie," Yosuke said. "You said that this place is reality for people who enter, right?" Yui noticed that he seemed to be deep in thought as they traveled back; he must've just finally managed to word what he had on his mind properly.

"So, that shopping district," he said. "And the weird room we saw, before... Did they exist because the ones who died entered this world, and it became their reality? I guess what I'm trying to ask is... Did those places form because of the people who entered this world?" Teddie rubbed his head briefly, looking uncertain.

"I don't know," he said. "It's never happened before... But that's probably where they were when the Shadows attacked them. I sensed people here twice before, but both of them disappeared after the fog lifted." Yosuke thought for a moment before coming up with a general outline of his theory on what happened. Saki and Ms. Yamano were thrown in and wandered around since they couldn't escape. After some time, they faced their Shadows, and when the fog cleared, the Shadows killed them. It made him realize that he was lucky that Yui and Teddie were with him, which Teddie affirmed. If he'd been in this world alone, he likely would've died just the same.

"Senpai and that announcer," he said, a sorrowful tone in his voice. "They were here all alone, with nobody to help them or save them..." Teddie, perhaps hoping to cheer him up, explained that they were safe before the fog lifted, because Shadows don't attack regular people. Yui thought back to when she'd awoken to her Persona, and how those two Shadows had completely ignored Yosuke to attack her. Perhaps they specifically targeted her for that reason...? Yui and Yosuke's attention was caught when Teddie brought up the possibility of saving anyone else who got lost.

"Are you saying," Yosuke said. "That if anyone else gets thrown in here, we can save them before they disappear?! Like how you guys saved me?!"

"Sounds like it," Yui said. Honestly, she didn't relish the thought of jumping in to save every random shmuck who fell in, but she figured that if she didn't, Yosuke would just go in alone, and she'd honestly feel somewhat guilty if he got seriously hurt because of it.

"Hell," she said. "We might even find clues about the killer if we do." That was another part of it. She had a promise to keep, and despite the fact she was practically forced into it, she did try to keep her promises.

"Um...?" Teddie said. "Can I ask something, too? If Shadows are born from humans, what was Teddie born from...?" Yui and Yosuke looked at each other quizzically before looking back at Teddie.

"You don't even know?" Yui said. "How the hell should we?" Teddie shook his head, looking just as puzzled as them.

"I know some things," he said. "Mostly about this world... But I don't know anything about myself. To be honest, I never thought about it until now..." That explained why his answers always sounded so confusing; it was like he was a newborn or something, just discovering it had an identity.

"Will you guys... come back?" Teddie said. Yui gave a nod, though it was accompanied by a sigh and her rubbing the back of her neck.

"We did make a promise, after all..." She said. When Teddie showed surprise that they'd keep their word, Yosuke reminded him of the conditions of their promise, which Teddie had also apparently forgotten.

"Oh, that's right!" He said. "But, one more thing. I'll be waiting for you guys here. You need to come in from the same place every time, so we can meet up. You could come in from somewhere else, but then you won't end up here. You might show up somewhere I couldn't get to you. Then you'd be dooooomed... Got it?" Yui and Yosuke nodded their understanding, and Teddie created the exit TVs, just like the last time. When they approached with the intent to make sure there was nobody on the other side that they'd scare by falling out of the TV, however, Teddie impatiently pushed them through.

As they fell through and landed back in Junes, they were, thankfully, greeted only by Chie, who seemed stunned to see them safe and sound, even if Yui looked a little beaten up. In fact, she even started crying as she leapt to her feet, which prompted Yosuke to make a sassy comment about the face she was making, only for her to throw the coil of rope into his face, knocking him onto his butt.

"The nerve of you guys!" She said. "You're such morons! I can't believe this! You guys suck! The rope got cut off, I had no idea what to do... I was so worried... Totally scared stiff, dammit! I hate you both!" In her anger and frustration, Chie ran off, which Yosuke admitted they did have coming, and that they should both apologize to her, tomorrow.

"I'm completely wiped out," he said. "I'm gonna go home, soak in the shower for a while, and get some sleep... I think... I'm gonna sleep well tonight. Well, see you in the morning!" Yui, likewise, desperately needed to get some rest, so she began to make her way back to the Dojima household.

On the way there, however, she noticed a familiar face sitting at a rest area in the floodplains, and in need of rest for her weary legs, decided to stop by, as well. Taking a break, herself, was Yukiko Amagi, Chie's friend, although she was dressed in a vibrant, pink kimono.

"Are you surprised to see me dressed this way?" Yukiko said as Yui took a seat next to her. "My parents sent me on an errand. Um... Are you getting used to Inaba, yet?" Rolling her shoulder, Yui nodded briefly, still not certain how to speak to Yukiko. She seemed so refined and polite, entirely separate from the casual and rough city girl that Yui was.

"Really?" Yukiko said. "It must be difficult, though, moving to a place you know nothing about. I've never been out of Inaba, so I wouldn't know what it's like to transfer to a new school." The ravenette looked thoughtful for a few moments, apparently trying to come up with a place to steer the conversation. Yui realized she must have almost as much trouble as her when it came to speaking between them. Maybe it was her work at the family inn that made it easier for her to push on despite that difficulty...

"Oh!" Yukiko said. "Are you getting along with Chie? I mean, I always leave early, so... Um..." Again, Yui nodded, but this time, decided to make an effort to actually speak.

"Yeah," she said. "Well enough, anyways. I knew a couple girls like her back home." Yui finally speaking seemed to help Yukiko relaxed somewhat, and even brought a small smile to the other girl's face.

"Really?" She said. "Well, Chie's very supportive, you know. She's always the one who gives me the little extra push I need. We had homeroom together last year, too, and I still remember how we'd cut class, sometimes." That surprised Yui a bit. Yukiko seemed too prim and proper to do something like that, yet here she was, admitting to such a thing.

"Well," Yui said. "With a teacher like King Moron, I can see why you would." The comment got an amused giggle from Yukiko, who nodded a bit.

"Oh," she said. "I should get going. I need to make tomorrow's arrangements with our head chef. Our inn can't function without me right now. Um, I'll see you at school, then." Yui nodded to her, and the two stood, grabbing their umbrellas before parting ways. It seemed like slowly, but surely, she was starting to make friends here...

 _April 15, Evening, Rain_

"Dad's late..." Nanako said, although her voice didn't sound that surprised. Yui wasn't either, considering the second death that had cropped up this morning, but she couldn't help but feel for Nanako. It was starting to hit a little close to home just how often this poor girl was left all alone, which was only compounded by Nanako's reaction to the news, as she confirmed that Dojima likely wouldn't be home until late that night due to the most recent incident.

"Well," Yui said. "Why don't I help out around the house? Gotta do something other than take up space and eat your food, right?" Nanako nodded, smiling a little at Yui's offer to help before turning her attention back to the TV, where they were now showing a feature about the Amagi Inn, which Yui noted was the same inn that Yukiko's family ran.

Sure enough, it was as Chie said. It actually got news coverage, despite the town being so out-of-the-way. In fact, there was now an interview being shown, featuring Yukiko herself, who clarified that she was only temporarily filling in for the manager. When Nanako got bored, however, she got up and decided to do the dishes. Yui, having offered to help out, decided to similarly get up, despite the ache in her muscles, and assisted Nanako with the housework. Once she finished, she went right up to her room to get some well-earned rest...


	4. Chapter 3: A Bond of Ice and Fire

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 **UltimateKuuga:** That it is! We're starting to get into the thick of it, now!

 **Unsung Senpai:** Yup, that was always a criticism I had of the P4 anime. So, hopefully I can capture the sort of action I had in my mind in my writing. As for Yui's character, I actually purposefully designed her as an antithesis to Yu; much like how Atlus designed the P3 heroes as drastically different, yet similar, that's the direction I went in with Yui, as well. It's even reflected in her design; Yu's got dull, silver hair which, along with his usual wardrobe, sticks him in a fairly monochrome palette, whereas Yui wears a green jacket over her uniform and dyes her hair purple, standing out much more.

 **Vangran:** That's what I was aiming to do! As mentioned above, I had full intention on trying to make her basically the male protag's polar opposite while maintaining what makes the protagonist the team's leader in the first place (mainly the ability to make decisions while keeping their head).

 **Chapter 3: A Bond of Ice and Fire**

 _April 16, Early Morning, Cloudy_

As Yui walked to school that morning, still somewhat sore, she couldn't help but think back to yesterday's events. If the pain still lingering in her body wasn't a clear indication of otherwise, she'd almost have thought that it was a dream. However, that train of thought brought to mind another memory, courtesy of her second visit to that mysterious place she had dreamed of on the train to Inaba. The Velvet Room.

Sitting across from her in the familiar limousine interior was, once again, the long-nosed man. She hadn't been able to recall his name right away, but now that she had time to ponder on the mysterious happenings, she was able to remember that it was Igor. It'd only been a few days since Yui first met him and Margaret, so she was somewhat surprised that it took her this long to put his name to that very unique face of his.

"Welcome," Igor had said. "Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world... I have summoned you within your dreams." Back when this first happened, she'd been skeptical about visiting such a room in her dreams, of all things, but considering everything she'd gone through that day, she had an easier time believing it, now. Not to mention this was the second time it'd happened, and unlike most reoccurring dreams, it wasn't simply a repeat of the same events. Further reinforcing the reality of the visit was the strange, blue key she'd found on her person when she awoke.

As Igor and Margaret spoke to her, she learned a bit of the nature of the Velvet Room, about how one normally needed to enter into a contract of some sort to visit the room, and that Yui's awakening to her power was, effectively, the very contract she needed. Upon explanation, it was then that the very key she now had in her possession was bestowed onto her. How she ended up with it when it was given to her in a dream was never quite explained, but it was just a key, right?

Then Yui recalled the next events, and a small sense of unease settled into her stomach; the "price" Igor had her agree to in order for his and Margaret's "assistance". What the assistance was, she was unsure, but when Yui remembered that his request was that she assume responsibility for all decisions that she made, it seemed a little too... simple for her. She half-expected there to be some sort of "fine print", so to speak, but something in the back of her head told her that she'd probably need their help, whatever it was. If nothing else, though, she did get some explanations from Igor.

When he spoke of Personas and explained the concept behind them, he also explained that she, compared to others, was unique. She took a moment to recall what he had called it, before remembering. The "Wild Card". How it was empty, yet infinite in potential, and how Personas were the power to control one's heart, which were strengthened by the bonds forged with others. Yui's memories of the meeting grew foggy after that point, however, no matter how hard she tried to recall them. She must've been focusing particularly hard, however, as she didn't notice Yosuke approaching her on his bike until he was right next to her.

"Yo," he said. "You saw what was on last night, right?" Yui did little else but blink in silence for a moment as she wondered what Yosuke was talking about. Last night? Then it hit her; it was raining last night, wasn't it? She'd been so exhausted that she didn't even think to check.

"Ah," she said. "No, I didn't think to." Yosuke seemed a bit surprised, with how much thought Yui put into their escapades in the TV realm, that she'd dropped the ball on such a thing.

"Oh, well, uh," he said. "Someone else appeared on the Midnight Channel, last night. I couldn't tell who it was, but if someone's shown up on there, we can't ignore it, right?" Yui gave a nod.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's go check it out after school. Maybe Teddie can tell us something." Sure, she was still sore from yesterday, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. She was no stranger to exerting herself even after a hard workout, so powering through this soreness would be easy for her.

"If it turns out someone was thrown in again," Yosuke said. "There really might be a culprit behind all this. Even if it is something about that place that's killing the victims, if someone's using that world as a weapon, that's unforgivable. We need to find the culprit... no matter what it takes!" His passion for catching the one at fault didn't come as much surprise to Yui. After all, considering everything he'd gone through, plus what his Shadow had gotten him to admit, she understood why he'd be so gung-ho about stopping this.

"Yeah," Yui said. "After all, there's no way the police would believe that someone's killing people by throwing them into televisions. Besides, I want to keep my word to Teddie, too." Yui's response got an eager smile out of Yosuke.

"Totally," he said. "A promise is a promise. And, you know... I tried sticking my head into the TV last night, the way you did, and it actually worked." On one hand, Yui hadn't expected him to try that. But, on the other hand, she wasn't exactly surprised once he made the revelation.

"That makes sense," she said. "I guess that means it's linked to the power, not me specifically." Yosuke nodded, seeing her logic.

"Persona, wasn't it?" He said. "It could be that we got this power from someone specifically so we could solve the case." Yosuke gave a small pause, looking at Yui with an inquisitive look for a few moments. The stare made her raise an eyebrow, mentally questioning what he was doing, but before she could voice her query, he continued to speak.

"Then again," he said. "You managed to go inside the TV and get your Persona first. I feel like, as long as you're here, I can find the culprit and crack this case, Minamoto. So, let's do our best!" With a confidant grin, Yosuke held his hand out towards Yui, who gave it a brief look before looking back up at him and giving his hand a firm handshake. She could feel how hard he was trying to move on despite everything that had been thrown his way, and how much he already seemed to trust her... And, in that moment, she suddenly had a flash of memory back to the Velvet Room, as if it had been waiting for this moment. She could tell it was during that foggy point in her memory of the previous night's visit to the Velvet Room, but not right where it'd left off. Rather, this seemed to be a little further into the discussion...

"The Magician Arcana," Igor had said, revealing a tarot card from the deck he held. "It is the first step on the Fool's journey, and it represents initiative, self-confidence, immaturity, and the power to make use of one's skills properly. A bond you forge in the name of this Arcana will most certainly involve moving forward in life, in mind, and in heart. And, in doing so, you will learn to temper yourselves into stronger individuals with even stronger convictions."

As the memory passed, she wondered what exactly Igor had meant by the "Fool's journey", but she quickly realized something. Did this mean that her newly-blossoming friendship with Yosuke was represented by this... "Magician Arcana"? As they continued on their way to school, she took the time to think on it more, wondering what the purpose of her hazy memory was, and why only one part of it was revealed. Would she learn more if she met with other people who represented the other cards? For now, she shook it out of her mind; time would tell, and Igor seemed the type to only say as much as was necessary, anyways.

"By the way," she said, turning her full attention back to Yosuke. "You don't have to call me 'Minamoto'. Just 'Yui' is fine. Was never big on formality and shit." Her request caught Yosuke off-guard, prompting him to stop for a brief second, only to pick his pace back up to match hers.

"Oh, uh, sure," he said. "I thought you might not, but, y'know, better safe than sorry, right?" Yosuke gave a carefree laugh, to which Yui simply shrugged. She wasn't a mind reader, but she had a pretty good idea as to why; she was taller than he was by a smidge, she'd bitched out a teacher in her introduction on her first day, and now he knew how good in a fight she was. He'd probably been too intimidated to be anything but respectful. Still, it was like she said; Yui didn't care much for formality, and if they were going to be working together on this case, she'd rather him be relaxed and casual around her than nervous and intimidated.

Once they arrived at school, the two took some time to talk a bit more about some random theories before classes started and see if any of them stuck with what little information they had, but they had no such luck. Just as they finished striking another idea off of their theory list, the classroom door slid open abruptly, immediately followed by Chie rushing into the room and looking around frantically. When she noticed Yosuke and Yui, she ran over to them, still looking panicked. Despite that, Yosuke turned to her, apparently thinking she might still be upset over yesterday.

"Uh, Chie!" He said. "Um, about yesterday... We're sorry we worried you." Chie lifted a hand to wave it off, looking over her shoulder briefly before turning back to them.

"Never mind that," she said. "Is Yukiko still not here?" When the two of them confirmed that they, in fact, hadn't seen Yukiko yet that day, Chie's concern grew as she began to pace back and forth. Finally, she stopped herself before looking at the two with a mix of concern and desperation across her face.

"Oh man," she said. "What should I do...? Is that stuff you were talking about for real? You know, all that about how people showing up on the Midnight Channel is related to that other world..."

"Oh, we were just talking about that," Yosuke said. "We were thinking about checking it out later." Chie's lips pursed for a brief moment, taking a deep breath before exhaling softly, as though she didn't want to believe what she was about to say.

"The person on TV last night," she said. "...I think it was Yukiko. That kimono looked like the one she wears at the inn, and she wore it during that interview, too... I got worried, so I emailed her last night, but she hasn't responded... I called her earlier in the evening, though, and she said she'd be at school, today..." It seemed like Chie was on the verge of hysterics, prompting Yosuke and Yui to do their best to calm her down before continuing along that train of thought.

"So," Yosuke said. "You still haven't heard from her?" When Chie affirmed that she hadn't, Yui took the time to explain what they had learned in the other world as best as she could. It was a little difficult, considering she didn't fully understand it, either, and they mostly just had theories to go on, but she felt like she managed to get her point across well enough.

"What's that supposed to mean...?" Chie said. "Wait, are you saying... Yukiko was thrown in there?!" Before Chie became hysterical again, Yosuke had to explain that they weren't certain yet, and that making sure she was still okay was their main priority. To do so, he had Chie call her once again. However, it went to voice mail, which only worried the group more.

"Would she have her phone on if she was helping out at the inn?" Yui said. It was one possibility; she knew that in restaurants, workers weren't allowed to keep their phones on their persons while on-duty, so it might be the same case for someone working at an inn. Yui's idea brought some hope back to Chie's face, who quickly had the idea to call the front desk and ask for her. Relief was added to her expression as someone picked up on the other end, and after a quick exchange, Chie hung up, breathing a sigh of relief before explaining Yukiko's situation... only to practically explode in Yosuke's face right after.

"For crying out loud, Yosuke!" She said. "You got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine, and you were all 'Is Yukiko-san inside that place...?'!" Yosuke was quick to apologize but explained their initial train of thought – that people showed up on TV because they were already inside. Considering they were clearly incorrect, they made plans to meet up after school at Junes and figure out what was going on.

 _April 16, After School, Rain_

The electronics section of Junes proved to be particularly busy this afternoon, which was apparently highly unusual. While they waited for the crowd to thin out, Yui went over the details of yesterday's events in greater detail to Chie, who'd otherwise been left out. However, the explanation took less time than they'd hoped, especially when Yosuke cut Yui short to avoid her going on about his experiences with his Shadow, so the area was still as lively as it had been.

"Ugh," Yosuke said. "I can't believe I forgot there's a sale in this department today... We can't go in to ask Teddie like this." The trio stood in silence for a few moments before an idea seemed to come to Yosuke, who motioned for Yui to follow him as he approached the TV, telling Chie to stand on the other side of her.

"Try sticking your hand in and calling him over," he said. "I bet that bear's wandering around the entrance, anyway." When Chie took her position, the two doing their best to obscure Yui from view, she stuck her hand in and made a beckoning motion... only to feel a pair of teeth clamp down on her hand. Out of reflex, she yanked her hand back, wincing lightly. Yosuke voiced his concern a little too loudly, though, prompting Chie to shush him.

"Agh," Yui said. "I think the fucker bit me... Stupid goddamn bear..." Leaning in, Yui spoke in an irritated tone, a little louder than her mutter earlier, but still low enough to avoid drawing attention.

"All right," she said. "I know you're in there, what the hell was that for?" Surprisingly, and yet not, Teddie's voice came out of the TV. She'd honestly half-expected it to not work, but hey, it made her seem like she knew what she was doing.

"Is that you, Sensei?" Teddie said. "Sorry, I thought someone was trying to throw someone in again! Is this a game or something?" Leaning in, Yosuke chimed in, while still blocking the view of Yui as best as he could.

"No, it's not a game!" He said. "Can you sense anyone in that world right now?" Teddie's reply was surprisingly simple, as he simply informed them that he was alone at the moment. Even after they pressured him to make sure, he insisted he was certain. With their hypothesis now shot full of holes, Chie decided that safe was better than sorry and decided to warn Yukiko anyways, and Yosuke and Yui resolved to watch the Midnight Channel that night just to make sure.

"Oh, by the way," Yosuke said. "What's your cell number? It'd probably be easier to plan this stuff if we could get a hold of each other ASAP." Nodding in agreement, Yui exchanged her number with Yosuke before heading home.

 _April 16, Evening, Rain_

When she arrived back at the Dojima household, Yui took notice of Nanako watching TV alone, as she expected. She could tell Nanako had been hoping her dad was home, because the little girl had half-risen from her seat at the table, only to sit back down with a disappointed-sounding greeting as Yui walked in instead of Dojima. Sure, she didn't expect to be greeted with hugs and smiles, but it still kind of annoyed her that she was a forethought. As a result, Yui grumbled a greeting back before heading straight upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, Yui realized just how little she'd actually brought along for her stay. Sure, she had some books and music she'd brought, but she'd already read through all of the books at least twice each already, and she wasn't the type who could pass hours just by letting a CD play and relaxing on the couch. In fact, most of what she had brought was simply just used as decoration for the shelf, to make it seem like she did _something_ of value in her room besides sleep. Sadly, looks was about as far as it got.

So, instead, Yui turned on the TV, eventually managing to let her mind settle on a documentary channel, although she, admittedly, only paid partial attention. It wasn't until she heard Dojima come home that she decided to check the clock, realizing it was already almost 11:30. Turning off the TV and her room lights, Yui switched on her desk lamp and decided to burn the rest of her time paging through one of her textbooks until the telltale sound of a signal coming through on her television prompted her to get up and investigate it.

Unlike the last time she'd checked the Midnight Channel, the image was incredibly clear. Yosuke's description of what he'd seen last night made it clearer to her that this was highly unusual, and that sense only grew when the image shown was Yukiko in what looked to be some sort of princess costume, holding a microphone, and speaking like she was some sort of television host. What threw Yui off even more is that Yukiko was talking about "hunting studs", and gleefully talking about finding a harem before skipping along into the castle in the background. As the program faded, Yui was left dumbfounded, only shaken from her stupor by her cell phone going off on the table, which she picked up.

"H-Hey, did you see that?!" It was, naturally, Yosuke on the other line, who seemed to be panicking about the whole situation. She could certainly understand why, since just when they thought they'd figured everything out, a bunch of new things came out of the woodwork to prove them wrong.

"Calm down," Yui said. "You've got Chie's number, right? Try and get a hold of her, see if she can get a hold of Yukiko."

"R-Right," Yosuke said. "Tomorrow's Sunday, so let's meet up at Junes first thing in the morning!" With their plans set, Yui hung up, wondering if Yukiko was still safe or if now she actually was inside the television world. Considering it was already late, though, she decided to go to bed and get some rest just in case they actually did have to go in to rescue her.

 _April 17, Daytime, Clear_

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Yui grabbed her suburitō and made her way downstairs to find Nanako sitting alone, once more. Looking around, there definitely wasn't any sign of Dojima being around, which concerned her. Did he really not have a single day off so far? Sure, there was the problems with the murders going on, but there had to be more than just him working. Nanako seemed to catch on to her concern, explaining quickly.

"Dad left already," she said. "He said he's gonna be late, again. Are you going somewhere? I'll be fine by myself." Almost as if to prove it, Nanako turned on the television, with the weather announcer stating just in time that it'd remain clear all weekend, which caused Nanako to remark that she should do some laundry so that it'd dry. While she wasn't totally convinced Nanako was fine with being alone, she figured the girl could handle things responsibly. Besides, her business was important, so after stating that she was going to head out, Yui did just that and left for Junes.

When she arrived, it was clear that she was the first one to do so, as she saw Yosuke nowhere at the food court. Deciding to kill some time, she made her way to the stationery section of the store and bought some cheap folding paper before returning to the food court and taking a seat. It'd been a while since she'd made some origami, after all, and she had time to kill, so it couldn't hurt to practice...

 _12 years ago..._

"Ory-gamy?" The little girl, six years old, said, looking up at her family's head maid. She'd just come home from her first day at kindergarten, crying because some other kids had made fun of her for not being able to write her own name legibly. When she explained it to the maid, the woman, who seemed to be in her mid-30's, decided to take her shopping.

"That's right," the maid said. "Origami is folding paper into looking like little animals." Arriving at the bookstore, the head maid brought the girl over to the section with instruction booklets, and found an origami book aimed towards children, where she pointed a few of the papercrafts out to the girl.

"See?" She said. "They look cute, but they're a little complicated to make." Back at home, the maid worked on some of the simpler designs with the girl, and while the maid was able to make hers at least loosely resemble the ones in the book, the girl clearly struggled, her fingers apparently unable to fold the paper as precisely as needed, causing her to start to cry in frustration.

"Now, now," the maid said. "I know it's frustrating now, but keep practicing, okay Yui-chan? It seems too hard, now, but with time and practice, you'll be able to make the bigger animals by memory alone, and then you'll look back on your frustration and laugh at how you thought you'd never do it."

 _April 17, Daytime, Clear_

Yui looked at the origami giraffe she'd just finished making with a nod of satisfaction. Sure enough, recalling that memory was rather amusing to her. To this day, she found it hard to pick up a new skill if it involved her fine motor skills, but sticking with it always worked out in the end for her. It seemed she'd finished just in time, though, because she saw Yosuke approaching in the distance, and tucked the rest of her folding paper away into her jacket.

"Yo," he said. "Sorry for the hold-up. I dug up some stuff we can use in the closet at home!" It looked to Yui like he was meaning to surprise her with it, though, because he had his hands held behind his back. With a grin, Yosuke pulled his hands out to reveal a katana and a tanto in his hands.

"We've got our Personas," he said. "But a wooden sword and some wrenches aren't that reliable of weapons. Granted, the blades are fake, but it's better than nothing, right?" Yui admitted, she didn't think finding those was what had him tied up, but it was surprisingly good planning, in her opinion.

"Well," she said. "The wrenches, sure, but I've used this baby in plenty of fights, so it's pretty reliable to me."

"Huh, really?" Yosuke said. "Then which one should I... Heh, maybe I should dual-wield these puppies!" Yosuke suddenly started striking a number of poses, as if he was a character in a manga or video game, all of which really demonstrated to Yui just how little actual fighting experience he had. Out of the corner of her eye, though, Yui caught wind of a familiar sight – a police officer speaking into his radio, and what she and Yosuke could hear from him made it clear he was reporting in about them.

"A suspicious young man and woman found, both armed with multiple weapons," he said. "Requesting backup." Yui sighed and stood up as the officer approached them, and before she could do damage control, Yosuke started running at the mouth, doing a poor job of explaining things, and only made things worse when he began to flail around in a panic with both of the weapons still in hand. As more officers approached, Yui grabbed Yosuke and shook her head, knowing that freaking out would only continue to worsen things, though that didn't make her being brought to the police station with Yosuke any more enjoyable for her...

After a pair of lengthy interrogations, the two were finally released, although Yui had to argue soundly – and loudly – in order to keep possession of her wooden sword. Thankfully, the argument that she could pick up any old branch and use it in a similar manner and that the sword had sentimental value to her seemed to work, but the confrontation still left a bitter taste in her mouth, especially when Yosuke grouped back up with her, telling her that he could hear that argument from outside. What only made things worse was the two being approached by Dojima, of all people.

"And here I was hoping I wouldn't see you here like this, Yui," he said. "You know what's been going on around town. We've got men stationed everywhere. You're lucky I was around, or this would've just added to your permanent record." Yosuke became visibly surprised when he heard that Yui already had marks on her record, before stepping up a bit.

"Sorry, it's my fault, Dojima-san," he said. "I-I'd just heard that she'd been in a few scraps, and since we've been hanging out for the past couple of days, I... kinda wanted to impress her..." Dojima gave Yosuke a long, hard look before sighing and rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

"Fine," he said. "You're free to go, but we're still keeping the weapons, fake or not. ...With a clear exception, of course. We don't need you two scaring the locals, understand?" Yui gave a reluctant nod, only holding herself back from snarking to avoid having her suburitō confiscated, as well. As Dojima went on his way and the two began to leave, they passed by a couple of detectives who were speaking surprisingly openly about Yukiko, talking about how she'd disappeared.

"Hey," Yosuke said. "Did you hear that...? So she really is...!" Before they could continue their discussion, another plainclothes detective holding a cup of coffee nearly ran into them.

"Whoa," he said. "Pardon me... Huh? Wait a sec, aren't you the kid staying at Dojima-san's place?" Yui gave a small nod in confirmation, but before he could ask anything more, Yosuke stepped in, asking about Yukiko and if something happened to her.

"Huh? Oh," the detective said. "Umm, am I allowed to say...? Well, if you're friends with Ms. Amagi... Keep this between us, okay? We got a call from her parents yesterday evening, saying they couldn't find her anywhere." Hearing the confirmation for themselves, Yui and Yosuke exchanged a look before the detective continued, explaining how nobody had noticed her disappearance due to how busy the Amagi Inn has been, lately, before asking if she'd said anything unusual.

"That announcer, Ms. Yamano?" He said. "Well, it turns out she was staying at the Amagi Inn before she got murdered. It seems she had some harsh words for the manager about how they treated their guests, and the stress of it caused the manager to collapse." Yui didn't like where this was going, and her concerns were well-placed, as he made it clear that some theories were abound that, rather than disappearing, she was laying low for some reason. As soon as he realized that he might've said a little too much, though, Dojima's voice came from around the corner, shouting for an "Adachi".

"S-Sorry!" He said. "I got it right here! Hey, forget I said anything, guys, okay?" The man they now identified as Adachi was quick to hurry off, leaving Yui and Yosuke to stew on what they'd just learned as they made their way to leave. As they did, they spotted Chie entering.

"There you are!" She said. "What are you guys doing?! I saw you get dragged off into police cars and had to come all the way here!"

"Uh, well," Yosuke said. "There was a slight misunderstanding... We'll tell you about it later. Anyways, something's up with Yukiko-san!" His words seemed to surprise Chie, who was quick to explain that Yukiko never answered her phone, and that she'd found out that Yukiko had disappeared when she went to check up on her in person. That news solidified their decision to head inside and rescue her, but before they left, Yosuke explained to Chie about the police's suspicions that they'd just learned about, which angered Chie. Her snapping only served to irritate Yosuke, which left the both of them agitated.

"Calm down, guys," Yui said. "Standing here getting pissed off won't save Yukiko." Her words had their desired effect, as they quickly realized what was important at the moment and nodded, but when Chie expressed her intent on joining them, Yui pursed her lips while Yosuke scratched his head.

"Well," he said. "Before we decide on who's doing what, we need to do something about our weapon situation, since they just confiscated... Well, mine, anyways."

"Weapons, huh?" Chie said. "I know just the place!" With an unusual amount of eagerness, Chie lead the two out of the police station and off to the shopping district, where they found an unusual-looking store that was apparently named "Daidara Metalworks". On the inside, it was warmer than usual, and lining the counters and shelves were a variety of tools, weapons, and armor.

"Why would you know about a place like this?" Yosuke said. "Oh, I get it... You watched one too many kung-fu movies, and..."

"It's not that at all!" Chie said. "I overheard some guys in our class talk about it! They said this place sells weapons and armor." With the explanation out of the way, the three began to browse the equipment until Yosuke brought up the subject of Chie joining them.

"I dunno, Chie..." He said. "I still think it's too dangerous. I know how you feel, but -" Before he could continue, Chie turned and snapped at him.

"You don't!" She said. "You don't know shit about how I feel... Yukiko might die from this, for crying out loud! I'm going, and that's that!" Yui gave a sigh before stepping up. She knew Chie had very strong feelings about this, so she stood straight, firm, and put a more authoritative tone to her voice.

"Listen," she said. "I know you want to save her, but Yosuke's right. It's far more dangerous than you think; I'm not saying you can't come with, but if you're going to insist on it, you need to let us protect you, okay? If you decide to try and go solo, we're sending you back through. Got it?" Chie looked up at Yui and bit her lip; it was clear she didn't like the idea of being protected when she wanted to badly to save Yukiko, but after mulling it over for a few seconds, she lowered her head in resignation.

"All right..." She said. "But I'm not going in unarmed! If there's something I can do to help...!" Yui sighed again before placing a firm hand on Chie's shoulder.

"We'll let you know," she said. "Just know that if we save Yukiko, but you die in the process, that ruins the whole point of this, plus it'll devastate Yukiko, too." That final nail in the coffin seemed to strike home to Chie just how important it was that she take the dangers of that world seriously. The brunette gave one final, silent nod before going back to picking out her gear. Yosuke, relieved that Chie saw fit to listen to reason, walked up to Yui.

"But man," he said. "I have no idea what to get... You mind picking something out for me, Yui? You're the only one with fighting experience here, so I figure you'd know what's best, y'know?" Yui nodded, fine with that. She'd already figured out what kind of weapons he might be... well, decent with, and took the money he offered for his equipment.

"That being said," he said. "If we wear this stuff around town, we'll just get picked up again... But it's not like we can waltz into Junes with a sack full of gear and expect no one to notice, either..." The three thought for a moment before Yui had an idea.

"Leave that to me," she said. "I've got something that should work out." Yosuke looked to Chie, the both of them nodding and deciding to trust Yui.

"All right," Yosuke said. "Let's split up for now, then. The store'll be crowded until the afternoon sale ends, and if we walk around together, the cops might get suspicious." Deciding to meet back up again at the Junes food court, the trio split up. Yui, who needed to pick something up from home beforehand, made her way to leave. However, as she made her way down the street, she was blinded by a sudden flash of light for a brief moment.

When she opened her eyes, to her right was now a strange, blue door with intricate, gold patterns across it. As she looked around, it seemed like nobody else noticed the door's sudden appearance, and a familiar voice rang through her head.

"So," it said. "It finally begins... If you'll give me a moment of your time..." Yui took notice of a strange glow once the voice faded and realized the key she'd gotten the other day was now shining in her pocket. Pulling it out, she decided to take the plunge and inserted it into the keyhole of the door, finding herself teleported almost instantaneously to the Velvet Room.

"We have been expecting you," Igor said. "The catastrophe that is headed your way... It has already taken human lives in its approach towards you. But you have nothing to fear. You already have the power to fight against it. It seems that the time for you to use your Persona has come..." Igor gave an amused chuckle, and Yui quickly realized that the calming, yet oppressive atmosphere that usually dominated the Velvet Room was gone. Perhaps it was only there in her dreams...?

"You, my dear visitor, are special, however," Margaret said. "Your Persona is the wild card. Fueled by the strength of your bonds, your power allows you to wield multiple Personas, and our role here in the Velvet Room is to fasciliate that." Igor explained that it was through his power that he could create new Personas for Yui through fusing them.

"Okay," Yui said. "But I only have Izanagi now, right? Or is it just something I come up with on the spot?" Igor chuckled again, shaking his head.

"No, my dear," he said. "When you defeat Shadows, you may discover what remains of them calling out to you. Shadows and Personas are one and the same, after all, so occasionally you'll find ones that are willing to join you, should you accept them." Shadows are Personas...? That was a concept that, when she thought about it, she should've noticed earlier. After all, when she'd defeated Yosuke's Shadow and he accepted it, it became his Persona. So, it stood to reason that by defeating other Shadows and accepting them, she could obtain new ones.

"All right," she said. "I think I get it. So, I beat and accept Shadows, they turn into Personas, then you fuse them and if I have strong enough bonds, they'll get even stronger. Is that about right?" Igor and Margaret nodded, clearly enthused that Yui caught on so quickly. Margaret then lifted up the book she was carrying, displaying it to Yui.

"This tome you see," she said. "Is the Persona Compendium. Here, I can keep track of the Personas you've wielded, and for a fee, I can recall them for you at any time. And lastly, we'd like to introduce you to a new resident of the Velvet Room, who will be helping you on your journey." Yui had noticed the familiar girl to her left, but waited for them to introduce her. If she recalled, she'd met this girl on her very first day in Inaba, hadn't she? It was hard to forget that strange clothing style.

"...Nice to meet you," the girl said. "I'm Marie."

"Well, technically, this is the second time we've met," Yui said. "Y'know, at the train station? You picked up my paper for me." Marie furrowed her brow as she did her best to think back before shrugging.

"Maybe," she said. "That'd explain why you're so familiar." Did she have trouble remembering? It was a fairly short exchange, and while Yui didn't think she blended in that well, perhaps she was rather plain to Marie if she was a resident of this room. As if reading Yui's mind, Margaret began to explain to her about Marie, but Marie was quick to interject, telling her not to tell Yui more than she needed to.

"...Well, as you can probably tell," Margaret said. "She can be brusque at times, but please understand that she is only an apprentice and forgive her for her impoliteness. With her aid, you will be able to empower your Personas with abilities they otherwise wouldn't be able to learn." With Marie's introduction taken care of, Igor spoke up once again with a chuckle.

"Do you recall my words to you before?" He said. "…'The coming year is a turning point in your destiny... If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost'. I meant precisely what I said. Defeat in battle is not the only way your journey may come to an end... Please, do not forget this. When next we meet, you will come here of your own will. Until then... farewell." Yui's vision began to blur before she suddenly found herself back in the shopping district, suddenly concerned. Did he mean to say that if they couldn't find the killer... she'd die, as well? That didn't change what she had to do, but it added another level of pressure onto the task. Speaking of which, she remembered that she had to return home to pick up her necessary supplies...

When she joined back up with Yosuke and Chie at Junes, they noticed she was carrying a large drum case, which she had slung over her shoulder. Even as strong as she was, she was starting to tire out from carrying it, because their equipment was inside. With everything taken care of, the three made the jump through the television once the people cleared out.

As he promised, waiting on the other side for them was Teddie, who was sat in the corner of the arrival area, seemingly in thought. When Yosuke asked what he was doing, the bear replied simply that he was thinking about stuff, though he clearly wasn't thinking too hard, as he still found the capacity to make a bear pun.

"So..." Yosuke said. "...Did you figure anything out? Eh, it's probably useless to think about it too much. I've seen the inside of your skull, and it was empty."

"How rude!" Teddie said, rushing over to the trio. "You're right, though... I try and try, but nothing comes out of my head." Their off-topic discussion clearly got to the worried Chie, as she quickly snapped at the two of them.

"Will you guys shut up?!" She said. "Now's not the time for stupid jokes! Listen, someone came here yesterday, right?" Teddie seemed surprise that they knew already, and after a quick introduction to each other, Chie asked about the person in the world already. Teddie explained that he began to sense someone in there with him a short while after he spoke with them last night, and he pointed out the direction he detected the presence. Just as Chie was about to start running off, Yui firmly grabbed a hold of her arm, and with a single, stern look, reminded the brunette that she said she'd be careful. With Teddie giving directions, the three left at a hurried pace.

What they found when they arrived was a castle, which Yui recognized from what had been shown on the Midnight Channel last night. As Yui looked around for any sign of danger, potential traps, or ambushes, Yosuke and Teddie began a brief discussion about the Midnight Channel, which only served to confuse the both of them, as Teddie still didn't know what the Midnight Channel was, and Yosuke seemed to have trouble grasping what Teddie meant about the world always having been in its current state. When Teddie confirmed that he could feel someone's presence inside the castle, Chie stepped up to Yui, and judging by her expression and the tension in her body, Yui figured she was only just barely restraining herself from charging in, per Yui's instruction.

"All right," Yui said. "Let's head in and stick together. There's no telling what's in there, and if we get separated, all of us could get killed. If you can't get a visual on the others, yell so the others can find you and regroup, okay?" Yosuke, Chie, and Teddie all nodded in understanding, and with that, Yui lead the charge into the castle.

"Yosuke, you take the back!" Yui said. "Chie, Teddie, hang in the middle! That way, if we get surrounded, you two aren't as vulnerable!" The group took the formation, and lucky for them, because as they passed by a door, Teddie began to freak out.

"We've got Shadows!" He said. "There's some ahead, and I think a few are coming from that room we just passed!" Stopping, Yui nodded back to Teddie then looked to Yosuke, who nodded in understanding. Pulling out the daggers that Yui had given him into both hands, they were soon confronted with white-colored versions of the Shadows that Yui had first encountered, as well as a pair of fish-like Shadows from behind. Confident she could handle the Hableries, as Teddie called them, she left the Pesces to Yosuke.

"All right," he said. "Time to show my stuff! Let's do this, Jiraiya!" As the glowing card appear in front of Yosuke, he leaped up and shattered it with a spinning strike from one of his daggers. As Jiraiya appeared, it made a stereotypical ninja pose, causing gusts of wind to send one of the Pesces to the ceiling, destroying it, while the other moved to attack Yosuke. In response, he proved to be rather nimble and acrobatic, dodging out of the way before going in for a diving slash with his weapons. However, the dive left him open to a counterattack from the Pesce's tail, which slammed into him, sending him into a nearby wall with a pained cry.

"Yosuke!" Chie said. Rushing in despite the danger to her safety, Chie attempted to kick the Pesce, but while her foot impacted it and pushed it away, she didn't seem to do any actual damage to it. Luckily, that was all Yosuke needed to get back up on his feet. Rather than go for any sort of fancy tricks, this time, he opted to jump onto the Pesce and dig both of his daggers into it, which caused it to burst into mist like the first. Yui, who'd finished handling the Hableries just a few moments earlier, came up to them at a half-jog just as the Pesce died, exhaling softly.

"Everyone okay?" She said. Yosuke seemed to have recovered after a few moments, in some pain but not dealing with any actual injuries, it appeared.

"All right," Yui said. "Let's try to avoid getting surrounded like that, again... What is it, Teddie?" She'd just noticed the bear peeking into the room the Pesces had burst out of, waving over to the three.

"There's a chest in here, Sensei!" He said. "It might have something useful in it!" The three looked between each other in bewilderment before stepping into the room to see, in fact, an almost cartoonish-looking treasure chest sitting in a corner. And, sure enough, there were supplies inside of it.

"Dude," Yosuke said. "What is this, a video game? We're running around in a giant castle, fighting monsters, finding treasure, and saving a girl... Should I start saying 'I've leveled up' every couple of battles, too?" Teddie didn't seem to understand, but it was clear that all of them were realizing just how strangely that all fit together. Still, they couldn't linger on it too long, so after sorting through the supplies and taking what they needed, the four of them moved on.

After fighting through a few more Shadows, they came to a set of stairs, which Teddie pointed out they'd probably need to climb, as the presence he felt seemed like it was on the top floor. Nodding to him in understanding, they raced up the stairs, but rather than find another set of hallways, before them, instead, was a large pair of double doors. Cautiously, Yui lead them through the doors, and into what appeared to be a large ballroom, though it currently lacked any furniture.

The group moved carefully though, following Yui's lead, as she figured this was an excellent spot for an ambush. As they neared the center, in fact, a familiar voice rang through the room, prompting Yui, Yosuke, and Teddie to be on guard.

"She said red looks good on me..." The voice said. It took Yui and Yosuke a few moments, but Chie recognized the voice right away as Yukiko's. Looking around, however, they didn't see any sign of her. Chie almost seemed to be in a daze, meanwhile, as she stepped forward ahead of Yui by a few paces.

"I hated my name..." Yukiko's voice said. "Yukiko... 'Snow'… Snow is cold and it melts quickly... It's transient... Worthless... But it's perfect for me... Apart from inheriting the inn, I'm worthless... Still, Chie told me that red looks good on me." This scenario felt all too familiar to Yui and Yosuke, reminding them of their time in the liquor store where they heard Saki's thoughts. Chie seemed stunned, surprised at what she was hearing in her best friend's voice, and began to clench her teeth as Yukiko's voice went on about how Chie gave her life meaning, how Chie had everything she didn't, and how Chie was so kind for looking after her "worthless" life.

"Yukiko, I-I..." Chie said. She'd been clearly caught off-guard, as Yui noted that she looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't since Yukiko wasn't actually present. What caught them all by surprise, however, was for a voice like Chie's, but with a familiar effect to it, coming from ahead of them.

"Hah, 'Chie is so kind', huh?" It said. "What a joke." Sure enough, forming in front of them was a second Chie, just like what had happened with Yosuke. As they saw the Shadow form, tensed up as Chie looked towards it, dumbfounded.

"Are we talking about _that_ Yukiko?" The Shadow said. "She says I'm protecting her? She says she's worthless! That's how it should be, right...?" Shadow Chie, much like Shadow Yosuke, leered at her original with a sneering grin on her face.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Chie said. Judging from her expression and the way she stumbled over her words, Yui guessed it was happening just like with Yosuke. It was saying everything Chie didn't want it to, going on and on about how she enjoyed how much Yukiko depended on her and how it made her feel superior. Realizing that if they didn't put a stop to it now, Yui and Yosuke looked to each other and nodded before approaching Chie. When she realized this, Chie turned to them in a panic.

"No, don't come near me!" She said. "Don't look at me! No... No, this isn't me!" Yui gritted her teeth, turning her attention to Chie's Shadow when she said that. Thankfully, it didn't transform just yet, but it began to speak more of Chie's insecurities aloud, about how she was the one who couldn't do anything alone, and how she needed Yukiko's dependency on her to feel important. The final nail in the coffin was the Shadow claiming that was the reason she was Yukiko's friend, and how she'd never allow that to change.

"No..." Chie said, getting visibly angry. "That's not how I think of her... Shut up! You're not me!" Despite Yui and Yosuke's attempts to stop her, she still ended up denying her Shadow, which began to chuckle ominously as the familiar scene of it drawing power to itself began, while it laughed maniacally. When Chie gave a cry of pain as she lost strength, Yui was quick to grab her and pull her off to the side as the Shadow grew.

In place of the golden-eyed brunette was now a tower of colorless, featureless high school girls, supporting what Yui could only describe as a dominatrix with bright yellow clothes, a matching hood obscuring its faces, long black hair flowing out from underneath, and a long, scarlet whip that it clearly intended to use as a weapon.

"I am a shadow..." It said. "The true self...! What do you guys think you're doing? Trying to defend the 'real' me? Then you're gonna pay the price!"

"Shut up! Quit being such a pain!" Yosuke said as he took a battle position away from Chie, Yui quick to join him. They didn't need the fight to accidentally hurt her while she was incapacitated, after all. Teddie ran to Chie's side as the Shadow focused its attention on Yui and Yosuke, brandishing its whip and cackling sadistically.

When the Shadow brought the whip down at them, the two split off to each side to avoid it. Summoning their Personas, Izanagi and Jiraiya hit it with lightning and wind, respectively, causing it to tilt dangerously, the woman on top nearly falling over. Using this opportunity, Yui and Yosuke sent their Personas in to strike it with melee, only to be blown back by a burst of electricity as the Shadow recovered, the bolts chaining off to Yui and Yosuke themselves, the latter of whom took the hit far worse than Yui.

"Yosuke!" Yui said, calling out to him as he fell to his knees. Thankfully, he managed to reply to her, showing that he was both still conscious and alive, but just as he was starting to recover, the Shadow struck him with its whip, sending him backwards in a daze. Turning to the Shadow, Yui gritted her teeth. It seemed to take the gust of wind worse, so an idea came to mind. Recalling that she'd obtained new Personas as Igor said she would, Yui lifted her hand once more, as if summoning a new Persona. When the card appeared, Izanagi vanished, and the image on the card shifted, the number 0 being replaced with the roman numeral "VIII".

"Tear her apart," Yui said, crushing the card. "Angel!" Where Izanagi stood previously, a woman with blatant angel wings, a blindfold, and dressed in what appeared to simply be belts covering her more risque areas appeared. With a flap of her wings, Angel created a gust of wind in much the same manner as Jiraiya had, earlier, knocking the Shadow for a loop again. With the opening made, Yui decided to help Yosuke recover rather than risk a second assault of lightning.

"You okay?" She said, pulling Yosuke to his feet. Straightening out his vision and rubbing his face, Yosuke nodded before finally taking in the scene.

"What the hell?!" He said. "Is that – I mean, where'd Izanagi...?!" Yui shook her head and stepped away from Yosuke; she'd have to explain later, because the Shadow was beginning to recover.

"Damn you...!" It said, righting itself again. "I'm getting really sick of you doing that!" Cracking her whip, a green light formed into a shield-like shape around the Shadow.

"I don't think we're gonna get another chance to bowl her over like that again," Yui said.

"Dammit," Yosuke said. "Well then, we'll just have to be careful and beat the shit out of her!" Yui nodded, switching her Persona back to Izanagi, in case the Shadow decided to shoot more lightning at them before sending the Persona out at it once again.

Off to the side, Chie was finally starting to recover, and while Teddie couldn't do much to help her up, he kept a paw at her back as a sort of reassurance. When the brunette saw what her double had become, she weakly clenched one of her hands, struggling to her knees.

"That thing..." She said. "What... What is it...? Why did it pretend to be me...?" Teddie gave her a concerned look, turning to the ongoing battle briefly before looking back to Chie.

"It wasn't lying," He said. "That was a Shadow, too. It's another part of you, the side you don't want to admit... Just like the one Yosuke had to overcome." Chie was ready to deny it again, but the last sentence Teddie said hit her hard. Just like the one Yosuke overcame... Yosuke had stopped the recap of the other day's events, so did that mean he had to deal with this, too? That, unlike her... he had the strength to admit his faults?

"Tell me," Chie said. "Did Yosuke... Did he deny his Shadow...?" Even as she asked, she refused to look at Teddie, staring down at the floor. Teddie gave a brief nod, turning to the battle once again.

"Yeah, he did," He said. "Well, I mean, at first, he did. But, thanks to Sensei, he was able to admit it." Chie's hands clenched tighter as she listened to Teddie, regret and self-hatred filling herself. This time, it wasn't directed at the Shadow that wore her face, for announcing the things about herself that she didn't want to see. No, this time, she hated herself for denying those things. Compared to Yui and Yosuke, who clearly had the strength of heart to look at what they hated most about themselves and admit to them, she felt weak and helpless, and if she was weak, then... Then she wouldn't be able to save Yukiko.

As Chie began to slowly come to terms with her faults, the Shadow began to visibly weaken and grow fatigued much like Yosuke's Shadow had. Noting this, Yui and Yosuke nodded to each other, sending Izanagi and Jiraiya at it for one final assault. With Jiraiya's shuriken and Izanagi's spear, the Shadow was knocked off of its throne of girls with a scream, the power venting from the massive Shadow.

With the danger passed, the weakened Chie approached the two with Teddie at her side. When she reached them, she turned to see her Shadow now standing before them silently in its original shape. Chie bit her lip as she stared at it, unable to find the words despite no longer driven to deny everything it said. She knew she had to admit it, she knew that, but despite that, she couldn't get the words to leave her mouth. Her self-hate-fueled spiral was stopped short, though, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see Yui.

"You still care about Yukiko, right?" Yui said. "The fact that you wanted to deny what it said is proof of that." The fists that Chie had been clenching so hard since she recovered finally began to relax, nodding to Yui with a newfound determination in her eyes as she took a deep breath and looked back to her Shadow.

"Yeah," she said. "Yukiko's my best friend, after all, and the side of me that... that _loved_ being relied on, the side of me that needed to feel better than her... I couldn't forgive that. But... you're still a part of me." Chie's Shadow seemed to give a sigh of relief, smiling warmly before fading away in a soft, blue light and replaced by a tall woman wearing a yellow and black jumpsuit, a black and white kusazuri waist guard, white boots, and long, black hair flowing out from underneath a tall helmet with a biker helmet-esque visor. As Chie's new Persona faded away, her legs gave out once again, exhausted, prompting Yui and Yosuke to grab her arms to keep her from falling over.

"I'm okay..." She said. "Just a little tired..." Despite that, she was starting to look pale, and it was clear she could hardly even stand on her own.

"You don't look okay at all..." Yosuke said. "But I bet you can use the same power we have, now." Yui nodded, agreeing with his statement.

"For now," she said. "We should head back. That was a fight none of us were expecting, plus, you're exhausted, Chie." Though Yosuke nodded back, Chie weakly struggled in their grip, clearly against this course of action.

"I-I never said I needed a break...!" She said. "I can... still keep going..." Teddie moved into her view, shaking his head, telling her not to overdo it.

"It's not that we don't think you can," Yosuke said. "It's just, we have to save Yukiko-san, no matter what. Now that you have the power, you can fight with us. It'd be much better for us all if you had your strength back. That's why we're saying we should go back and regroup."

"But Yukiko's still in here, isn't she?!" Chie said. "I-I... If those were Yukiko's true feelings... then I have to tell her something. I'm not as strong as she thinks! It's because she was with me... Because we were always together, I was able to act that way. If we weren't, I'd..."

"Well," Teddie said. "You need to get your strength back! Then you can tell her! Yuki-chan's normal. The Shadows don't attack normal people. They only attack when the fog lifts here."

"So," Yui said. "We've basically got a deadline, but until then, she'll be safe, right?" Teddie nodded, positive that she would be. When Chie looked confused, Yosuke and Teddie explained about how the fog worked and how it'd lift in this world when it became foggy in theirs.

"Don't worry so much," Yosuke said. "It only fogs up after it's rained for a few days. We'll check the weather forecast first thing when we get back."

"But..." Chie said. "But I can't turn back now! We've come so far! Yukiko's still here! She's all alone... She must be so scared!" Yui snorted, adjusting her position to get into Chie's view, crouching lightly to get on eye level with her.

"Then you tell me how much farther we have to go," she said. "You don't know what's up ahead. We might have to fight even stronger enemies. We need to be prepared, or we might die, and then nobody will be able to save Yukiko. Remember what you promised me before we came in here? That still applies." Recalling her earlier promise once more, Chie tensed her jaw before sighing and giving a nod of resignation. With consensus finally reached, Yui and Yosuke pulled her fully onto her feet, and the four of them left the castle, Chie using Yui for support. This was something they absolutely had to succeed at, after all. A life was hanging in the balance.


End file.
